Along Came a Spider-Man - Vol 1: Web Wings
by humanspiderstobey
Summary: After being bitten by a genetically modified spider on a school field trip, nerdy Peter Parker gains spider-like abilities and has to become Spider-Man not only to avenge his late uncle but also to battle a grave threat known as the Vulture in this funny, action-packed and heartbreaking story.
1. Worst Field Trip Ever

**Along Came a Spider-Man - Vol 1: Web Wings**

 **Chapter 1: Worst Field Trip Ever**

"Oh, great," 16-year-old sophomore Peter Parker sarcastically sighed as he walked through the doors of Midtown High School. Peter was widely considered a nerd at the school, and for good reason. With a 4.85 GPA, Peter was easily at the top of his class, but as a result, had a miniscule amount of friends. The clothes he wore were of decent price, his brown hair was clean-cut and polished, and his glasses were taped together.

"Yo, Pete!"

Peter turned around to see his best friend Harry Osborn walking towards him with a smirk on his face. Rich, handsome, and well-liked, Harry was dressed in an outfit straight out of a Paris fashion magazine, and his brown hair was cut in a swept undercut style. Harry was essentially the opposite of Peter, but the two had been best friends since the first grade and always had each other's backs.

"It's the big day tomorrow!" Peter exclaimed excitedly to Harry.

"For you," Harry chuckled. "Being the son of a wealthy businessman, I'd rather be stuck in Mr. Wilson's class all day."

Peter could barely believe what Harry was saying. "C'mon, Harry. Your dad owns the place. He owns Oscorp! The place with the most advanced technology in-"

"Nerd!"

Peter and Harry turned to the left to see Flash Thompson and his girlfriend Liz Allan walking towards them. His real name was Eugene, although Flash refused to go by it due to it being a "geeky name." Recognized throughout Midtown as the star quarterback of the football team, Flash only respected those on the same level of popularity as him. Liz, however, was different. A beautiful and popular Hispanic girl, Liz was kind to everyone, even the ones considered "nerds." She was also captain of the cheerleading squad, which scored extra attention from the guys. Peter and Harry never found out why Liz dated a douchebag like Flash.

"So, you little punk, what's up in geekville?" Flash laughed as he lightly pushed Peter's shoulder.

"Flash!" Liz scolded.

"Actually, I'm just trying to figure out how you're smart enough to make those winning throws on the field," Peter responded with wit.

Harry burst out laughing while Liz even chuckled a little bit. Flash just glared at Peter with an "I'm gonna kill you" look.

Flash scoffed. "Listen, you little bug, I'll-"

The bell rang.

"Let's just get to class," Liz told Flash as she dragged him away. When Flash wasn't looking, she turned around and smiled at Peter and Harry. Peter waved in return, while Harry gave a peace sign.

"You like her?" Harry asked Peter.

"Nah, she's just hot," Peter admitted. "Back to what I was saying, you still have to be excited for tomorrow to some extent, man!"

As Peter remembered, the next day would be October 18, the day of Midtown's field trip to Oscorp Industries. Peter was undeniably the most excited of anyone, as he had always longed to see what was inside the place.

"Not really, dude," Harry insisted. "Dad says the company's trying to find a way to genetically enhance mankind or some shit like that."

"How does that not get you hyped?!" Peter shouted while walking with Harry to class.

* * *

"Look, Sally. I was thinking, maybe just a movie this weekend and-"

"Sorry, Pete, I'm not interested," Sally Avril responded in the most polite way she could.

School had just ended, and Peter had unsuccessfully failed at asking Sally Avril on a date. No popular girl would want to be romantically involved with a guy like Peter, but that didn't stop him from trying.

Flash came up and slapped Peter on the back. "Yeah, Puny Parker, go for girls your league instead!"

"Ignoramus!" Peter spat.

A second later, Peter regretted that comment as Flash's fist collided with his stomach.

"Flash!" Sally exclaimed.

"Stay down, Parker!" Flash shouted as he dragged Sally away.

In agonizing pain, Peter found the strength to get up. He ignored the witnesses and their comments as he walked away.

"The hell was that?"

"Looks like Flash really gave him a beating."

"Nerd didn't stand a chance."

"I'll show them one day," Peter declared. "They'll be sorry they ever messed with me. While they're flipping burgers in the future, I'll be discovering the cure to cancer. They're gonna regret not being friends with the next Stephen Hawking."

Peter then took his skateboard out of his backpack and went to the library.

* * *

"Finally," Peter said as he skateboarded home.

Peter had spent two hours helping Harry with his homework in the library, and he was more than ready to relax.

HONK!

"Shit!" Peter exclaimed as he fell off his skateboard and tripped on the ground. He looked at his elbow, which was now bleeding. Looking for the source of the sound, he looked up to see Flash in his fancy Buick.

"S'up, Parker? You have a nice trip?" Flash mockingly asked Peter.

At that moment, Peter's Uncle Ben came out of Peter's house.

"Peter, is there a problem with this kid?" Ben asked his nephew.

Before Peter could answer, Flash quickly exclaimed, "No, Mr. Parker! My buddy Pete and I here were just messing around!"

Peter scoffed. "Sure."

Ben may not have been as smart as his nephew, but he certainly wasn't stupid enough to think this punk in the fancy car was actually friends with Peter.

"Look, kid, why don't you just move along and head home? Peter here has business to attend to," Ben calmly stated.

"No problem," Flash replied, quickly driving his way out of there.

Once Flash left, Ben took the opportunity to give his nephew a pep talk. "Stand up to that punk next time, Pete. Show them that you're not one to mess with."

"If only that were true," Peter blankly stated as he walked inside.

Inside his house, Peter's Aunt May was knitting.

"Peter, how was school today?" May asked.

Peter walked up to his room. "Eh."

When he was eight, Peter's parents had died in a plane crash. As a result, he had been taken in by his father's brother Benjamin Parker and his wife May. Both in their mid-50s, Aunt May and Uncle Ben have pretty much been Peter's parental figures since then.

"Michelangelo, you there?"

Uncle Ben opened Peter's door. Peter was lying on his bed.

"What is it, Uncle Ben?" Peter muttered.

"Pete, don't let that guy bother you. Like I said before, do something about it!" Uncle Ben repeated.

"What can I do?" Peter scoffed. "Flash has treated me the same since the fourth grade. He just thinks that he can screw with those he considers inferior. If I try reporting him, he won't change."

Ben shrugged. "Maybe he's afraid of you."

Peter laughed as hard as he could. "Afraid of me? Him?"

"You're a goddamn genius, Peter. Maybe he envies you for your brain."

"The only thing he's ever cared about is his athletic career."

"Maybe he cares more about his grades than you think. You never know, people surprise us nowadays," Ben theorized.

"Yeah. When pigs fly."

* * *

"Dad, I got a 97 on my geometry test!" Harry excitedly yelled as he walked into his mansion.

Instead of congratulating Harry like any normal father would, Norman Osborn continued to yell on his phone.

"No, for the last goddamn time, I'm not interested, Toomes! Mention this again, and you'll regret it!" Norman yelled.

Hanging up the phone, Norman turned to his son. "97, huh? Well, that's good. What did Peter get?"

Reluctantly, Harry answered, "100."

Sighing, Norman started to walk out of the mansion.

"You going back to the lab?" Harry asked, unsurprised.

"Yes, I still have to supervise more tests on our enhancer drug."

"As usual."

Norman turned around and faced his son. "Harry, I know I'm not around often, but what I'm doing with Oscorp could-"

"Enhance the human race and make them more powerful for any hazardous situations," Harry interrupted. "I've heard it before."

"I'll be back around 10. Go do your own thing."

Norman left the mansion, leaving Harry alone. Although he was the cool and confident guy at school, Harry still remained in the shadow of his father. He never had the best relationship with him and was willing to do almost anything to gain his father's approval. Sometimes, Harry secretly resented Peter as Norman seemed to favor the more brainy teen.

"100 next time, 100!" Harry told himself as he walked up to his room.

* * *

The morning of the field trip, Peter went down to the kitchen and saw chocolate chip waffles and orange juice waiting on the table for him. Aunt May was cleaning the silverware at the sink.

"Thanks, May!" Peter thanked his aunt as he started devouring his breakfast.

May smiled. "You're very welcome, Peter."

Within three minutes, Peter was already done with his breakfast.

"Heading out, May! See you!" Peter yelled as he ran out of the house.

Before May had the chance to say goodbye, her husband came up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Kid really is growing up," Ben proudly proclaimed.

"He's gotten more enthusiastic as well," May pointed out.

* * *

Once they entered Oscorp, Peter and his classmates were welcomed by Dr. Mendel Stromm, Norman's assistant.

"Everyone, welcome to Oscorp Industries, the leading and most advanced chemical manufacturing corporation in the heart of New York City," Stromm greeted the students. "Since 1982, Oscorp has operated 117 major manufacturing and 15 research and development facilities worldwide. Oscorp's prime goal is to-"

"Genetically enhance the human race for more hazardous situations in the future!" Peter blurted out.

Although Peter's outburst prompted a few chuckles from the students, especially Harry and Flash, Stromm chuckled and said, "That's right, young man! Glad to see how enthusiastic you are! Now, if you'll all follow me to the testing room, you're gonna see where the magic begins."

"God, this is boring as hell," Harry sighed as he walked with Peter and the crowd of students to the next room.

"Maybe for you," Peter scoffed.

The testing room was truly a glory for a nerd like Peter. Filled with the most advanced technology in the United States, Peter felt like crying. As he looked around, Peter could spot a huge glass tank full of spiders.

"We have tested our super-soldier serum on those spiders in the glass tank," Stromm explained. "All 15 of them are yet to receive perfect results."

"There's only 14," Peter revealed with a bemused expression on his face.

Stromm went to go check the tank. "Huh?"

"Come on, Norman, I'm a 100 percent sure this'll make a lot of money for the company!"

The crowd of students turned to see Adrian Toomes, a middle-aged man with balding grey hair, following Norman. He had blueprints in his hands, and Norman was clearly not happy to be dealing with this.

"Adrian, not right here," Norman started. "There's a field trip going on, and the students don't need to-"

"Why does that matter? We can-"

"That's it!" Norman roared. "Adrian, you're fired."

Adrian's excited expression quickly changed to a mix of shock and fury. "Norman, you can't do this to me!"

"Oh, but I can!" Norman laughed. "Today was the last straw, and for the last time, Project Vulture has to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard of! Hell, even Otto's tentacles seem to be more useful!"

In a fit of rage, Adrian grabbed Norman's collar.

"I need this job," Adrian snarled. "Without it, I'll have no other way to support my daughter! You don't want that on your conscience, don't you?"

"Whatever happens to your daughter isn't my fault," Norman coldly responded.

That sentence was enough for the infuriated Adrian to punch Norman in the nose, causing him to trip on his feet a little.

"Security!" Norman shouted.

As the students excitedly witnessed what was going on, two security guards arrived quickly and started to drag Adrian out.

"Fuck you, Norman! You'll regret this for the rest of your life!" Adrian angrily screamed.

Peter could only watch what was going on until he felt a stinging sensation on his hand.

"Ouch!" Peter hissed as he grabbed his hand in pain.

Adrian turned to Peter and gave him a glare. Peter wanted to say, "I wasn't talking about you," but his conscience told him to keep his mouth shut. Peter looked at the ground to see the 15th enhanced spider on the ground. It quickly crawled away, never to possibly be seen again.

"What is it, Pete?" Harry asked his best friend in concern.

"I don't even know," Peter lied. "But all of a sudden, I have a headache!'

The second sentence wasn't a lie, as Peter's head really did start to hurt.

"Sorry for the distraction, kids!" Norman apologized. "You all saw a side of me I didn't want to expose you to."

Harry rolled his eyes as Stromm continued the tour.

* * *

RING, RING!

Yawning, Peter slammed and accidentally broke his alarm clock. He got up from bed and noticed that the alarm clock was nothing but pieces.

"The hell?" Peter whispered.

Concerned, Peter went over to the closet to get dressed, but he quickly noticed in the mirror that his scrawny body had changed into a more muscular physique. Flexing, Peter admired this new change. After putting his clothes on and gelling his hair, Peter put on his glasses, only for his vision to instantly turn blurry.

"This is so freakin' creepy!" Peter shrieked as he started to panic.

Putting his glasses down, Peter left for school in a hurry.

* * *

"All right, class, it's dodgeball day!"

In Peter's gym class, a good portion of the class cheered while the rest remained quiet. Based on the reactions, it was obvious to everyone who was good and who sucked at dodgeball. Unsurprisingly, Flash was excited in particular.

"Hell yeah, let's do this!" Flash exclaimed as teams were being picked.

After a minute, the entire class was separated into two teams. Once the gym teacher blew his whistle, people opened fire with the balls while others started dodging. Within a couple minutes, Flash had already taken out a majority of the other team. Everyone except Peter, who continuously dodged the balls with grace.

"The fuck? How did Puny Parker last so long?" Flash asked himself, angered yet impressed.

With only two other members left on Flash's team, Peter quickly picked up a ball.

"Let's see what else I can do," Peter chuckled.

Peter threw the ball as hard as he could. To the surprise of everyone, the ball hit one of the remaining students on the other side, bounced off of him, and hit the other teammate. With one ball, Peter had just taken out two people. Most of the students in the class had their mouths wide open. As much as Flash hated to admit it, he was starting to panic. He and Peter were now the only ones. Half of the class started chanting Flash's name while others started yelling Peter's. Furious, Flash grabbed as many balls as he could and threw them at Peter. Smirking, Peter dodged them one by one. Flash threw another one, only for Peter to catch it, ending the game. Before the gym teacher could declare the game done, Peter arrogantly threw the ball at Flash. Colliding with his stomach, Flash was knocked back to the wall. A majority of the class started cheering as the gym teacher declared Peter's team the winner. However, Peter started to worry even more. Overwhelmed with everything that was happening, Peter ran out of the gym.

* * *

"It had to have been that spider!" Peter deduced as he ran out of the school. Running, Peter found himself in an alley.

As he started to think, Peter remembered what Harry and Mendel had said about Oscorp's goal to genetically enhance humankind. Mendel had mentioned that the spiders didn't have any successful results. Did he include the one that had gone missing and bitten Peter? Peter looked up at the wall of the school. Was it possible? Without hesitating, Peter placed his hand on the wall. Then he placed another. As he went further, he indeed started to climb up. Once he got to the top of the wall, he looked down.

"WOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

Peter got to the roof of the building and started running. Without thinking, Peter jumped on the next building, and continued this pattern for the next five minutes. The day before, Peter had been the school nerd that barely had any friends. Now, he was quite possibly the most powerful human being in the entire world. As he looked down at New York from the top of a building, Peter smiled.

He was a human spider. A Spider-Man.

New chapter next Thursday.


	2. Power and Responsibility

**Chapter 2: Power and Responsibility**

"Every spider needs a web," Peter pointed out as he scrolled through the internet on his laptop.

He had just gotten home, and Peter needed to figure out how he could shoot webs. Online, he searched for different materials that he could use to build web shooters. To make sure they were cool-looking and functional, Peter decided that old watches and cables would best make them.

"How the hell am I gonna pay for this?" a frustrated Peter sighed. He had spent two hours searching online for a way to make money quickly, and nothing could match Peter's price.

Peter's eyes suddenly widened in excitement. "Bingo!"

WANT TO MAKE MONEY FAST?

TEST YOUR SKILLS AND SEE IF YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DEFEAT SKULL CRUSHER IN THE RING!

$1000 IN CASH TO THE WINNER!

Peter leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk. "Now THAT'S a prize."

* * *

It had taken 3 days, but Peter eventually finished putting together his costume for the wrestling match. Comprising of a red and blue hoodie, red mask, dark sunglasses, and red Nike kicks, Peter somewhat felt proud of the finished product. Putting on the costume for the first time was an exciting moment itself.

"It was the best I could do," Peter admired as he checked himself out in the mirror.

Peter then quickly took off the costume and put it in his backpack. After dressing into his street clothes, Peter went downstairs to leave. However, Uncle Ben was reading a newspaper in the kitchen.

"Whoa, where are you going, sport?" Uncle Ben asked.

"I'm just gonna head out to Harry's house. We gotta study for that huge chemistry test tomorrow."

"All right," Uncle Ben said. "Just be back by 7."

"Don't worry about it," Peter shouted as he ran out of the house.

* * *

"SKULL CRUSHER! SKULL CRUSHER! SKULL CRUSHER!"

The stadium was packed with fans, with a majority of them supporting the infamous wrestler Skull Crusher. Known for putting several of his opponents in the hospital, Skull Crusher had ended 13 careers.

"WHO'S MAN ENOUGH TO FACE SKULL CRUSHER?!" Skull Crusher yelled at the crowd.

Knowing someone needed to stand up to him and finally defeat the undefeated champion, Peter stood up. Dressed in his cheap costume, he felt optimistic. The crowd looked at him, bewildered.

"I am," Peter said confidently.

The crowd started booing him as Peter slowly walked onto the ring.

"Great," Peter whispered to himself.

"Oh, is this the cute little "Spider-Man" that came here to challenge me?" Skull Crusher taunted. "I expected you to be bigger."

"I expected you to be skinnier," Peter responded with wit.

The entire audience laughed and ooh'ed as Skull Crusher's face went red.

"You're gonna regret that, bug boy!" Skull Crusher roared as he raced at Peter with a fist.

Peter scoffed and easily moved aside to dodge the fist. Frustrated, Skull Crusher threw more punches, only for Peter to dodge them all. Peter then grabbed Skull Crusher and threw him against the cage.

"Aw, did I just crush your skull?" Peter sarcastically asked.

Peter laughed and turned around to wave his fist at the crowd. Skull Crusher snuck up behind him, picked him up, and threw him down onto the ground.

"Gah!" Peter groaned.

Skull Crusher climbed on top of the ring and lunged at him. Peter noticed him lunging and kicked Skull Crusher in the stomach, knocking him against the cage. Holding his stomach in agony, Skull Crusher slowly tried to get up. The umpire quickly ran over to Skull Crusher, who collapsed in exhaustion.

"One, two, THREE! Ladies and gentlemen, the new champion, SPIDER-MAN!" the umpire announced as he grabbed Peter's arm in victory.

The crowd started cheering. Peter smiled as he earned his applause.

* * *

"Finally!" Peter proudly exclaimed as he walked out of the promoter's office with his $1000.

Inside the promoter's office, however, a sketchy-looking man walked in. With platinum spiky hair and sunglasses, the man gave a vibe that made the promoter nervous. Before the promoter could ask any questions, the man pulled out a gun and threw a bag at him.

"Money, now!" the man demanded.

Before Peter could even make it to the elevator, shouting was heard. Shocked, Peter turned around to see a burglar running out of the office. Wanting to walk out alive, Peter quickly decided it was best to avoid the situation and stepped aside.

"Thanks, kid!" the burglar quickly told Peter as he escaped in the elevator.

Two security guards quickly arrived, only for the burglar to be gone. As one of the guards ran down the stairs to try and catch up with him, the other one stayed behind to give Peter a piece of his mind.

"The hell was that?" the guard scolded. "You could've at least tried to stop him!"

As bad as he felt. Peter was still annoyed by the situation. "If I recall, stopping criminals isn't my job."

Aggravated, the guard ran off to find the burglar. Peter could hear him mutter, "Stupid kid!" Shaking his head, Peter left in the elevator.

* * *

"Where the hell were you?"

That was the very first sentence Peter heard as he opened the door to his house. Uncle Ben was standing with his arms crossed, and he looked pissed. This was a rare sight for Peter, and it made him cringe.

"Well? I'm waiting for an answer!" Ben angrily said.

"I told you I was going to Harry's house," Peter calmly responded.

"Oh, really? Do you know what time is it? 9:15! Not only are you 2 hours late, but I called Harry's father, and he had no idea what I was talking about!"

Peter didn't know how to respond to that.

"Look, Peter, just tell me what's going on!"

Annoyed, Peter voiced his honest thoughts. "You want the truth? Fine! Things have been changing, okay? All of a sudden, there's stuff I didn't even know was possible, and I don't know how to deal with it! So just give me a break!"

As Aunt May entered the room after hearing the commotion, Uncle Ben's angered expression changed to a more calm and sympathetic one.

"What do you mean, things have been changing? Pete, what's happening?" Ben asked his nephew.

No answer.

"Look, Peter, I think I know what you're talking about. I was a teenage kid once, too, you know. I probably went through the same stuff you did," Ben stated.

Peter shook his head in disbelief. "No, you're wrong."

"Peter, where could you have gone at 9:00? Meeting some drug dealer or something?" Aunt May asked, concerned.

"What? No! You don't trust me or something?" Peter blurted out.

"This isn't about trust, Peter," Ben replied. "It's about the decisions you make. Whatever you do always affects your future, so you have to handle your decisions well and make sure you do the right thing."

"Like I haven't heard this talk before," an annoyed Peter sighed.

Ignoring what his nephew said, Ben continued speaking. "When we were growing up, your dad didn't always make the best decisions and sometimes hung out with the wrong people. I was always there to help guide him through life, and look where he ended up before he died. He was one of the smartest scientists who could've ever lived, and you've inherited his genius! Peter, I always told him, with great power, there must also come great responsibility."

"Why couldn't he have told me that himself?!" Peter exploded.

"Don't you raise your voice like that, Peter!" May sternly told Peter.

Furious, Peter ran out of the house.

Shocked by his behavior, Uncle Ben went to follow Peter.

* * *

About 2 hours had passed, and the entire time, Peter had just spent the time walking around, contemplating what Uncle Ben had told him. With great power, there must also come great responsibility? Although he had an idea, Peter didn't fully know what to think of it. As he continued walking, Peter heard sirens. Curious, he followed the sound to find a crowd of people looking at something. Police officers were trying to hold the people back, and there were cruisers at the scene. Peter ran over and made his way through the crowd of people. As he got closer, he could see a man's arm. On his arm was a silver watch. It looked just like the watch that Peter had bought Uncle Ben for his previous birthday.

"Oh, no!"

Peter pushed past more people, only for a cop to hold him back.

"Sir, you can't-"

"THAT'S MY UNCLE!" Peter screamed as he ran over to the dreadful sight of his uncle lying on the ground. Clenching his bloody chest, tears slowly went down Ben's face. Peter found his eyes starting to water as well.

"What happened?!" Peter yelled.

"It was a burglar," the same cop answered. "He's been shot."

"Uncle Ben," Peter whimpered. "I'm here."

In his last dying breath, Benjamin Parker couldn't find the strength to say anything. As his eyes closed for the final time, Peter started crying more than he ever did since he found out his parents had died. The crowd of people looked sympathetic.

Peter looked at the cops to hear what they were saying.

"We've tracked him down. He's at a warehouse north of 7th Avenue."

Peter's grief quickly turned to anger. Someone had taken the life of his uncle and father figure. Benjamin Parker was a man that didn't deserve death, and he was about to receive justice.

* * *

Running as fast as he could in his costume, Peter tried to find any possible way to get there faster. Some people gave him weird looks, but that was the last thing on Peter's mind. Jumping on top of a bus, Peter looked around for his location.

"7th Avenue," Peter reminded himself.

The bus later made its way into 7th Avenue, and Peter jumped off. Running around, Peter eventually found the warehouse. With police cruisers surrounding the place, Peter needed to find a way to get in.

* * *

Reloading his gun, the burglar remained terrified of what would happen. Plus, he didn't think he'd be safe in the warehouse for very long. Noticing a shadow crawling across the ceiling, he panicked and fired bullets in its direction.

"WHO'S THERE?!"

"Your worst nightmare," a voice responded.

The burglar shot more bullets in the warehouse, only for his efforts to be in vain.

"There's nowhere on this Earth where you can hide from me. You're gonna pay," the same voice snarled.

The burglar turned around to see Peter on the ceiling.

"MURDERER!"

Filled with vengeance and fury, Peter lunged at him and dodged the bullets that came his way. Knocking him to the ground, Peter threw the burglar across the room. The burglar quickly got up and threw a knife, only for Peter to step aside and dodge it. Desperate, he ran to the door to try and escape, only for Peter to reach him and slam his face against the wall. Punching him down, Peter grabbed his collar.

"You're gonna pay for what you've done!" Peter growled.

What happened next was something Peter definitely didn't expect. As he glared into the eyes of his uncle's killer, he noticed that the face was familiar. Where had he seen it before? After thinking for a few seconds, Peter's eyes widened in disbelief.

"No, no, you can't be! I could've stopped you!" Peter panicked.

Uncle Ben's killer just happened to be the exact burglar that Peter had let go. Peter could've stopped the burglar, but he didn't. He chose to be careless and let the burglar go. He could've prevented his uncle's death, but he didn't. He made the wrong choice and was now inadvertently responsible for the tragedy. He suddenly remembered his uncle's words. " _It's about the decisions you make. Whatever you do always affects your future, so you have to handle your decisions well and make sure you do the right thing."_ Peter's furious expression turned into one of despair. He had made the wrong and fatal decision. The burglar tried to slowly reach for his gun, but Peter snapped back into reality and punched the guy unconscious. At that moment, the door to the warehouse was busted open by cops.

"NYPD, put your hands up!" one of the cops yelled.

The cops walked in to find Uncle Ben's killer unconscious. There was no sign of Peter anywhere.

* * *

Peter silently sat on top of a building. He had his mask off, as he didn't really feel like he had to hide anything at this point. With tears slowly going down his face, Peter thought of every single major event of his life involving Uncle Ben. From getting dropped off at his and May's house as a kid for the first time, to the various times they had hung out at the movies and restaurants, and now the speech he had given Peter. Peter knew that he would forever remember the last words he had heard from Uncle Ben. " _With great power, there must also come great responsibility."_

"I know what that means now," Peter declared. "From this moment forward, I'm not gonna let the same thing happen to anyone else. No one else is gonna die because of me."

Peter stood up and looked at the city. He didn't think nobody else would die because of him, he KNEW nobody else would die. Not again, not ever. With this newfound gift, Peter vowed to defend New York City from danger that moment forward.

As Spider-Man.

* * *

All May Parker could do was sob in grief. Although she had received news that the killer had been apprehended by a mysterious vigilante, that was nowhere near enough to cheer May up even a tiny bit. Her makeup was running, and her graying brown hair was also a mess. The doorbell rang, and May got up to answer it. Once May opened it, Peter was waiting, and his face was red from crying.

"Peter," May sobbed.

Peter started crying again and hugged his aunt. In that moment, they both did nothing but embrace.

 **Next Chapter July 27**


	3. Vulture

**Chapter 3: Vulture**

Adrian Toomes was sitting in his apartment, furious about his firing from Oscorp. He had spent the last couple of hours working on his Vulture wings. To get his revenge on Norman Osborn, his ultimate plan was to complete his wings to sell to Oscorp's rival Specter Technologies.

"He's gonna pay," Adrian growled. "While I'm making a lot of money, he's gonna regret rejecting my project!"

Once he was finished, Adrian packed the wings and prepared to leave.

"Dad?"

Adrian turned around to see his daughter Valeria there. Attractive and intelligent, Valeria was one of the most popular seniors at Midtown High. Her wavy brown hair and blue eyes always caught the attention of guys.

"Hey, hon," Adrian half-heartedly told his daughter. "Heading to work."

"You work almost everyday," Valeria complained. "When are we gonna hang out?"

"Soon, Valeria. Promise," Adrian assured his daughter as he left the house.

* * *

It was a typical Monday at school for most, but for Peter, it was another day for him to mourn his uncle. Peter was taking some of his books out of his locker when Harry walked up to him.

"I'm really sorry about your uncle, Pete. If you need anything, I'll always be here, man," Harry promised his best friend.

Obviously, Peter hadn't fully recovered from the situation, so Harry's words were nice to hear. As far as Peter knew, nobody else knew about what had happened.

"Thanks a lot, Harry," Peter thanked. "It really means a lot to me."

"Hey, freak!"

Peter and Harry turned to see Flash furiously walking towards them. Peter had avoided Flash like the plague since the dodgeball incident, and for good reason. Flash was not the kind of person you'd want to mess with, and he had finally found Peter.

"Leave him alone, Eugene!" Harry snarled. "He doesn't need your shit right now."

"Stay out of this, rich boy. This is between Puny Parker and I," Flash coldly demanded as he pushed Harry aside.

Peter tried to walk away, only for Flash to push him against the locker. As Peter tried to walk away again, Flash stepped in his way.

"I'm not in the mood, Flash," Peter muttered.

A couple of students had stopped what they were doing to see what was going on, and it wasn't attention Peter wanted.

"What a twist!" Flash laughed. "Parker's grown a pair!"

In a fit of rage, Peter grabbed Flash's collar. He hated everything about this prick. His douchebag attitude, his star position on the football team, even his blonde buzzcut, and Flash was especially the last thing Peter wanted to deal with.

"I'm warning you, Flash. Leave me the fuck alone!" Peter warned Flash.

Before Peter could punch Flash or anything else satisfying, Liz quickly arrived. "Peter, let him go! Flash, just lay off!"

While Harry and Liz were concerned, the watching students started chanting, "Fight!" Wanting to avoid drama, Peter let go of Flash and tried to leave. Despite that, Flash was furious that Peter had made him look like an idiot twice, and he wasn't gonna let the nerd get away. Flash lunged towards Parker with a fist, only for Peter to turn around and grab his wrist, and he didn't have a light grip. Flash started to yell in pain, and a furious Peter flipped Flash. Unfortunately, at that very moment, Principal Davis was walking by, and he saw Flash lying on the ground in pain.

"Oh, shit!" Harry exclaimed.

A majority of the students ran away, so Harry and Liz took that opportunity to run to the library while the principal took Peter to his office.

* * *

"Suspended for a week?!" Aunt May cried in disbelief.

Peter had been sent home early from school after the incident with Flash, and dealing with his aunt's reaction wasn't fun at all.

"May, Flash has been messing with me for the longest time now. And after what happened with Uncle Ben, I wasn't in the mood to deal with it," Peter protested.

"Peter, I understand. I just can't-"

Peter's eyes widened in anger. "Hold on, why did I get suspended? Flash started the fight, so technically, what I did was self-defense."

"First of all, the principal said Flash was suspended for a week as well. Second, you injured him really bad, Pete. I guess that's what matters to the principal," May sadly explained.

"Well, that's bullshit."

As May covered her face in stress, Peter put his hand on her shoulder.

"Why can't Ben be here to discipline you?"

"Look, May, from now on, I'll be the man of the house," Peter promised.

As he walked up to his room, Peter started silently asking himself if Aunt May would ever heal after the tragedy. Either way, Peter knew he had to look after her now.

* * *

"I did it!"

Peter proudly tested out his mechanical web shooters, shooting a web at the ceiling of his room. Made from various chemicals, Peter had successfully created his own spider silk. It had taken 5 hours, and Peter was finally successful. Convenient and extremely powerful, it would definitely come in handy. Peter had initially planned on using them for dumb fun, but after what happened to his uncle, this was now for a bigger purpose.

"Let's see what this can do," Peter excitedly suggested as he put on his cheap costume.

He jumped out of his window and ran out. Peter ran faster than he ever could before, and it felt good. After 10 minutes, Peter was already 5 miles away from his house. He continued running until he chose a 7-story building. Peter then climbed up to the roof and looked at the view. With all this power, Peter had the feeling he could do anything in the world, without anything stopping him. Smiling, Peter jumped off the building and shot his web at a tall building. Once he swung there, Peter climbed up to the top of that building, which was 90 stories. Although a bit nervous, Peter trusted his powers enough. Plus, it wasn't the first time he stood on top of buildings. He looked up at the sky once he was there, only to get a call from Aunt May.

"Hey, May," Peter greeted on the phone. "Milk and eggs? All right!"

Peter hung up and put the phone back in his pocket and dove from the building. He screamed in excitement as he did so. Once he could spot a grocery store, Peter shot his web at the place and swung towards it. However, he clumsily landed in the grocery carts outside, knocking some down. Barely injured, Peter got up and went inside to buy his groceries.

* * *

"So, Mr. Toomes, what have you brought here today to show us?" Specter Technologies CEO Erik Specter asked Adrian.

In the testing room of Specter Technologies, Adrian was standing before Erik and 5 scientists. Adrian's silver briefcase was positioned behind him. Nervous, Adrian tried his best to act professional in his business suit.

"So, flight is a very convenient thing for human beings," Adrian started. "It can get us anywhere really fast, especially in emergencies. So allow me to ask you: Would you ever want the ability to fly?"

Some of the scientists shrugged.

"Well, this project will be a revolutionary thing for human beings," Adrian explained. "This will not only be extremely helpful for civilians but for the military as well. This'll provide a great tactic for soldiers to confront their enemies with very little risk. Allow me to introduce Project Vulture!"

Adrian took out a remote control and pressed a few buttons. The briefcase opened and the wings flew out and attached themselves to Adrian's back. Adrian then flew around the testing room, hoping to impress the scientists. After a minute, Adrian landed back on the ground and looked at Erik and the scientists.

"Well?"

* * *

Once he got home, the very first time Adrian started doing was tear apart his bedroom in fury. Erik and the scientists had told Adrian that they were apparently developing technology far more advanced, such as a superhuman exoskeleton, and that the Vulture wings didn't really have any significance as a result.

"GODDAMN IT!" Adrian yelled as he threw a picture at the wall.

Luckily, Valeria was out with her friends, so Adrian knew he had plenty of time to clean up the mess he made. However, that was the least of his worries. He needed a fast way to make money, or he would go bankrupt, and his daughter wouldn't have a roof to live under anymore. Stressing out over the situation, Adrian walked around the room, thinking about what to do. With his wings, the easiest solution was robbery.

"No, no, no, I'm not a criminal!" Adrian reminded himself. "It would kill Valeria if I became a monster."

Adrian tried to find every alternate option to robbery, but unfortunately, there wasn't much. He could try getting a different job, but no other job would pay enough to keep Adrian and his daughter in his small house. As much as he wanted to support his daughter, Adrian didn't want to lose his humanity. However, growing up, his father had always told him one thing about family.

"Family is everything," Adrian repeated to himself. "Sacrifices always must be made for them."

Sure, it was probably the same generic thing that everyone had heard from their family at one point, but Adrian had heard it so much growing up, and he had passed on the message to his daughter as well. After a little more thinking, Adrian knew the sacrifice he had to make for his daughter.

* * *

Meanwhile, Peter was swinging through the sky in his cheap suit. To honor Uncle Ben and become more responsible, Peter was now devoting his time off from school to saving people in danger. He listened to a police radio through an earpiece to find out wherever danger was occurring. He heard some weird report that there was a flying creature robbing stores. Heading towards a bank, Spider-Man swung to the location and spotted the flying creature. As Spider-Man looked closer, this "creature" was actually a man wearing a brown leather jacket, green goggles, and a pair of mechanical flying wings.

Spider-Man's eyes widened in disbelief. "What the hell?"

Spider-Man shot a web at the flying man but missed and hit the bank. He swung across and knocked into the creature, knocking him down.

"Who are you?" Spider-Man asked.

"Call me the Vulture." Vulture responded, flying up and knocking into Spider-Man.

Much to his dismay, Spider-Man fell off the bank he was perched on. As he fell, he quickly shot a web at the Vulture's wings. He lunged towards the Vulture and kicked him, knocking the menace back. Spider-Man landed back on the roof of the bank, and took the opportunity to annoy his newfound enemy.

"You know, the colors green and brown really don't go together. May I suggest a fashion tip?"

Irritated, Vulture flew at Spider-Man as fast as he could and punched him, knocking him off the bank. Spider-Man shot a web at the bank, but Vulture flew by and cut the web with his wings, causing the young hero to hit the ground. He landed on his head, leaving him unconscious.

"Idiot." Vulture mocked and flew away, carrying the bags of money he had just stolen.

A few minutes later, Spider-Man woke up. Unsurprisingly, he was was suffering from a massive headache.

"What the hell just happened?"

He felt a soreness in his arm and looked to see that his suit had torn.

"Piece of crap."

Peter swung home and took his suit off.

"I need better materials. This suit isn't good enough anymore."

He sat down at his desk, opened his laptop and searched for better materials he could use on his suit.

* * *

A few days later, Peter was listening to the radio in his bedroom. He listened to an interview between the radio host and some fellow citizens of New York. The topic was about how the citizens of New York felt about Spider-Man. Most of the people's opinions about him were positive.

"I love him!"

"He takes great cares of us."

"He's a hero!"

But with every positive opinion, there was always a negative one.

"He needs to let the police do their job."

"He causes damage to the city!"

"He's no hero!"

However, Peter heard something even more interesting.

"Currently, J. Jonah Jameson, the chief editor of the popular newspaper _The Daily Bugle_ , is looking for a photographer to take high quality photos of Spider-Man. He's offering a huge sum of cash to whoever's lucky enough to actually snap the photo."

A smile made its way across Peter's face. "Now, that's a way to make money."

* * *

In the conference room at Specter Technologies, Erik Specter and the board of directors were having a meeting.

"So, apparently there's a flying man robbing banks around the city and calling himself the Vulture," Erik stated. "Do we keep quiet or reveal his identity to the media?"

Before anyone could respond, screaming was heard. Security guards were also heard shooting at the unseen threat, only for their efforts to be in vain. At that moment, Vulture burst into the conference room, creating a large hole in the wall. The council members tried to run, only for Adrian to wave his wings, firing artificial razor feather blades at them, killing them instantly. Erik was the only one that Vulture intentionally didn't strike with the blades, prompting the CEO to panic.

"Please! Adrian, I'll do anything you want! I'll-"

Vulture flew over to Erik and grabbed his throat.

"You were my last chance. Now, I have to do this the hard way to provide for my daughter!" Vulture furiously told Erik.

"Please, I'll give you all the money you want! Just let me go!" Erik begged

Vulture smiled sadistically. "I'm already making my own money. As much as I appreciate your offer, I have to make sure you all stay silent about who I am."

Vulture threw Erik through the glass window. Outside, Erik fell onto a taxi, dying instantly. Vulture flew away, satisfied with the knowledge that Specter Technologies couldn't reveal his identity. However, there was one more person Adrian had to deal with: Norman Osborn.


	4. Daily Bugle

**Chapter 4: Daily Bugle**

Norman Osborn stood on the balcony of his mansion, admiring the view of the night. Oscorp was improving in the process of the enhancer drug, so Norman was pleased. He took out a cigarette and lit it. After he smoked for about 2 minutes, a loud pair of footsteps was heard descending behind Norman, and a sudden breeze of air moved Norman's brown combed hair.

Chuckling, Norman said, "Hello, Adrian."

Norman turned around to find Adrian in his jacket and mechanical wings. Taking his goggles off, Adrian asked, "You've been expecting me?"

Norman breathed out some smoke. "Yes. Now, why are you here?"

"You've probably been hearing the news," Adrian said.

"Who didn't? Flying creature roaming around New York City, robbing stores for cash. Try and imagine how surprised I was."

Adrian walked closer to Norman. "You asked me why I was here, Norman. Well…"

Adrian grabbed the collar of Norman's shirt, flew off the balcony, and dangled Norman.

"To answer your question, I'm here to kill you."

Norman merely laughed at Adrian's threat.

"What the hell is so funny?!" Adrian yelled.

"Well, Adrian, according to the news, you've already killed every single member of Specter Technologies, including the CEO Erik Specter. To add on top of that, you've robbed 7 stores and 3 banks. It's bad enough that the NYPD is already on your ass, but if you kill the CEO of Oscorp, it won't end well for you and your precious daughter."

Although he knew what Norman was talking about, Adrian gritted his teeth. "Don't you ever talk about my daughter again!"

"I'm serious, Adrian," Norman started. "You're trying to get money, and you've gone about doing so in a stupid way. What do I have to gain from knowing you're this supposed Vulture? I'm already the CEO of Oscorp Industries. I'm already a billionaire. I have everything! Let's help each other out here. I'll keep quiet, and you'll either continue with this foolish plan of yours or find a different way."

Reluctantly, Adrian flew back onto the balcony and released Norman from his grip.

"I'm warning you, Norman. If you ever do anything that gets in the way of my plans, I'll peel the flesh off that son of yours," Adrian threatened Norman.

Unfazed by Adrian's threat, Norman just dismissed it and replied, "Like I already said, I'm keeping quiet for both our sakes."

Adrian put his goggles back on and flew off. Norman looked down to see his cigarette on the balcony. Stepping on it, Norman went back inside.

* * *

It was a normal day at the bank. People were chatting, depositing and withdrawing money, and overall going about their regular day. At least that was until 4 armed men burst into the bank, wielding machine guns. One of the men started shooting the ceiling, prompting the people to scream and run.

"EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" the second man shouted.

The other 2 men ran over and started collecting as much money as they could. Once they had enough, the 4 armed men fled. Outside, Spider-Man leaped on top of a building, ready to respond. Instead of the cheap suit he had previously been using, Spider-Man was now dressed in a new and upgraded suit made of dark red and blue spandex. A black spider design was embedded across the chest, and the eyes were made of reflective triangular sunglass lenses.

"Showtime," Spider-Man declared.

Outside, the 4 men started to pile the money into the back of their truck, only for a web to stick to one of the men and pull him down. The 3 other men turned around and started shooting in the direction the web had come from. Spider-Man then swung over and kicked one of the men down.

"You guys are boring me," Spider-Man joked as he ran and dodged the incoming bullets.

Once the guns ran out, Spider-Man ran over, grabbed the third man's gun, and slammed it into his stomach, knocking him down. The fourth and final man tried to run away, only for Spider-Man to web him to the van.

"Looks like we're done here," Spider-Man declared.

On top of a nearby building, Peter's camera happened to be webbed to it, automatically taking pictures of the fiasco that had occurred.

* * *

Outside the _Daily Bugle_ , Peter was pretty excited, but at the same time, he didn't know what to expect. He didn't know how this publisher would feel about the Spider-Man photos he took.

"Here we go," Peter nervously sighed as he walked inside the building.

Once he got in, Peter took the elevator to the 8th floor. There, he saw a bunch of people working, typing, socializing, and basically everything else he expected to see in the place. He walked into J. Jonah Jameson's office, only to find an angry-looking man with grayish brown hair typing on his computer.

"Mr. Jameson?" Peter asked.

Jameson looked up with a scowl. "Jesus, it's a freaking kid! What do you want?"

"You know, I heard that ad on the radio about the Spidey pics, so I figured-"

Peter was interrupted by Jameson's loud laughing.

"A 15-year-old like you got pictures of that menace? You can't be serious!"

"First of all, I'm 16," Peter continued. "Second, here you go."

Peter took the photos out of an envelope and handed them to Jameson. Jameson started going through them, although he wasn't pleased.

"You want me to buy this stuff? Crap, crap, bigger crap, all crap! How the hell did you even get this?" Jameson blabbed.

"I was on top of a building. Do you want them or not? It's better than nothing," Peter sighed.

As much as he hated to admit it, Jameson knew the kid was right.

"Alright, fine. 400 dollars," Jameson offered.

"400 dollars?!" Peter exclaimed.

"You want it or not? It's better than nothing." Jameson pointed out with a smirk on his face.

"Fine," Peter huffed. "Does this mean I got the photographer job?"

"Whatever, you're hired," Jameson confirmed, secretly impressed to an extent. "Now, go out there and get some more photos!"

Peter walked out of Jameson's office, satisfied he got the job, but annoyed at Jameson's attitude. Peter looked to his left to see an attractive woman with short brown hair at her desk. She was probably in her early 20s. He walked over to the woman and shook her hand.

"Peter Parker. Looks like I'm the new photographer here," Peter explained.

"Betty Brant, secretary." the woman said with a smile on her face.

"Yo, Betty!"

A blond-haired man also in his early 20s approached Betty's desk with a Subway bag. He handed Betty a sandwich.

"Tuna for you, roast beef for me," Ned enthusiastically said as he took out his sandwich.

Betty proceeded to introduce Ned to the new guy. "Ned, this is Peter Parker, our new photographer. Peter, this is Ned Leeds, one of our best reporters."

Ned shook Peter's hand. "Nice to meet you, Peter."

"Right back at you," Peter replied.

* * *

In the basement of his house, Adrian was working on an exo-suit. Surprisingly, he had decided to take Spider-Man's advice and get rid of the brown leather jacket he used. Instead, he was working on an exoskeleton that would help control his mechanical wings and function better. After killing the members of Specter Technologies, he had stolen the blueprints for their original exoskeleton design, and was planning to improve upon it. Plus, it would sprout the color green.

"Dad?" Valeria's voice called from upstairs.

"Shit," Adrian muttered. He quickly opened the mirror on the wall and pushed the exoskeleton and his tools inside. He sat at a table and pretended to be using his laptop for work. Valeria sighed once she found her father in the basement working again.

"Working again?"

"Yeah, honey. Osborn's got me doing a lot of paperwork," Adrian replied.

"Well, can you spare some time for me?" Valeria asked.

"I keep trying to tell you, sweetheart. Anytime Osborn gives me a load of work to do, I'm not able to make time."

He felt guilty for lying and avoiding his daughter, but he truly felt that he had no other choice. If she was hurt, at least he'd still be able to take care of her.

"Why not?" Valeria interrogated.

"Because if I don't get work done, I won't be working there much longer. Ever since your mom left, it's been very tough earning enough money to provide for you. I don't have a choice but to do everything Osborn tells me to. I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Valeria whined.

She walked out, leaving a guilty Adrian. He always wished things could be different.

* * *

"Aunt May, I'm home!" Peter yelled as he walked inside his house.

No response. All Peter could hear was crying.

"Aunt May?"

Peter walked into the kitchen, where Aunt May was crying at the table. He kneeled in front of her.

"What's wrong, Aunt May?"

"I just miss your uncle so much. Just knowing I'll never see him ever again...I just don't know how I can go on without him. I can't make enough money, so that means we'll probably end up having to live somewhere else."

Peter quickly handed her the money he had just earned from work. "Here."

"Peter, where did you get this money?"

"I got a job. I'm working for _The Daily Bugle_. Taking pictures of Spider-Man."

"I don't like that Spider-Man character," Aunt May confessed.

"Why not?"

"He puts himself out there too much. He sets himself up to die."

"Maybe because that's his job," Peter retaliated.

"Have you met him?"

"I have. And he's a hero, May. He's doing what needs to be done."

"I just want you to be careful. Hanging around in a dangerous environment like that, especially in New York...you never know what could happen," Aunt May worried.

"I know, but things are different now. Because of people like Spider-Man, the city is safer. It's much less dangerous than how it used to be," Peter argued.

"I understand that, but that doesn't change anything. Now, there's a flying man stealing from big companies like Specter Technologies. Seemed like before Spider-Man came along, there weren't people like that wreaking havoc."

Peter suddenly felt uncomfortable. Aunt May indirectly disliked her own nephew. He wished he could tell her the truth, but he knew that especially after what happened to Uncle Ben, he needed to protect her. Now that Ben was gone, he needed to be the breadwinner since Aunt May couldn't.

"Keep the money I gave you, Aunt May. Use it to pay the bills, to do repairs, whatever. Just take the money."

"I can't take this money from you, Peter. You earned it."

"And I'm insisting you take it. You're gonna need help since Uncle Ben's gone. That's what I'm here for."

"Peter…"

Grateful, May hugged Peter. Even though she lost the love of her life, she didn't lose everything. She had Peter. She would always take care of Peter, and he would always take care of her.

* * *

That night, Adrian continued working on his exoskeleton. He was actually getting some good progress in, and he felt proud. Much to his dismay, footsteps were suddenly heard. Quickly shoving his exoskeleton and tools into the mirror, Adrian went back on his computer. He had gotten so used to it at this point that it felt like a regular routine.

"Valeria, what is it?" Adrian asked.

Valeria came down, wearing a black shirt and white skirt. Her usual wavy hair was straightened, and she was wearing a little more makeup than usual.

"Dad! Get ready. The art show starts in less than an hour!" Valeria exclaimed.

Adrian's eyes widened in confusion. "Huh?"

Valeria rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you forgot. My school art show? Remember that painting I made? Well, it got in, and we're going!"

Adrian was indeed in a tough position at this point. As much as he wanted to go support his daughter at the art show and actually look like a good father, he felt like his suit was the bigger priority. Plus, the suit contributed to Adrian's plan to provide for himself and his daughter, so therefore, that was more important.

"Valeria, I'm really sorry, but I'm crammed with all this-"

Valeria scoffed and interrupted her father. "Why am I not surprised? I get that you're busy and all, but you can't even go to one goddamn art show to support your daughter? It's only a couple hours! You're so caught up with Oscorp that you don't even have time for me anymore."

"Valeria-"

"Forget it. I'll go myself," Valeria sighed, walking upstairs.

Adrian put his hands on his face, distressed.

"You're doing this for your daughter. Your family…"

* * *

Peter walked in _The Daily Bugle_ with more pictures of Spider-Man. Pictures of him stopping bank robberies, saving people from car accidents. All in a day's work.

Peter entered Jameson's office and put the envelope of pictures on his desk.

"I got you more pictures, Mr. Jameson," Peter said confidently.

"Already? You were just here a few days ago."

"Yeah, well, I figure the more pictures I'm able to get of Spider-Man, the more it will benefit him," Peter explained.

"Benefit him? He's no hero. He's a menace to this city."

"What do you mean?"

Jameson opened the envelope of pictures and looked through them. He held up a picture of Spider-Man saving a woman from her totaled car.

"Take this picture for example. He's putting on an act. Saving her from a wreck he probably caused."

"What makes you think he caused that wreck?"

"Don't you find it interesting that every time someone is in danger, he just happens to be on the scene?"

"He shows up so he can save the people of this city and bring the bad guys to justice."

"You can't prove that," Jameson laughed.

Peter waved his arms in disbelief. "And neither can you. Why can't you just admit he's a hero?"

Jameson picked up the phone and yelled, "Robertson! Get in my office now!

Robbie Robertson, an African-American man in his mid-50s, walked in. An editor-in-chief of _The Daily Bugle_ , Robbie was a close friend of Jameson, even if they didn't see eye-to-eye all the time.

Jameson handed him the photos.

"Put the one with Spider-Man swinging away from the car accident scene on the front page and run the headline, "SPIDER-MAN FLEES FROM CAR ACCIDENT," Jameson ordered.

"You can't possibly think that's true. He's not who you think he is. He's a hero," Robbie defended

"Thank you!" Peter practically shouted.

"I don't care what you think. No one can change my feelings about this. Pictures speak a thousand words, and I choose to believe that this Spider-Man is a menace. He's a disgrace."

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Mr. Jameson, please don't use that headline!"

"You bring me photos, and I create the headlines. That's how it works. Now, get out of here."

Peter stormed out, furious that some of the people close to him couldn't see Spider-Man for who he was: a hero. He was trying to do nothing but good things for the citizens of New York, and what did he get in return from his aunt, boss, and many other citizens of New York? Distrust. As much as Peter hated to admit it, not everyone would always trust Spider-Man.

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: a new villain is introduced.**


	5. Seeing Double

**Chapter 5: Seeing Double**

At a table outside of a deli, Peter, Betty, and Ned were having lunch. Peter and Ned were having some sandwiches while Betty enjoyed a salad. It wasn't just an opportunity to enjoy good food. It was also a chance for Peter to get to know his new coworkers as well. As good of a time he was having, Peter was still pissed over Jameson's view on Spider-Man, as well as the newspaper headline he printed.

"So, where do you go to school, Peter?" Ned asked.

"Midtown," Peter muttered.

"That's where I went, too!" Betty exclaimed.

Peter just nodded and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Are you alright, Peter? You seem pretty upset," Ned pointed out.

"Who does Jameson think he is? Going around printing lies about Spider-Man, calling him a menace," Peter ranted.

"It's just how he is. He views a lot of things differently than most people," Betty told him.

"Does he hate all people like Spider-Man?" Peter asked.

"He hates people that feel the need to hide behind a mask. He's always felt that way from what I understand. It's who he is. According to him, a true hero wouldn't be afraid to reveal his identity."

Peter put his sandwich down. "He probably has a reason for hiding behind a mask, though. To protect the ones he loves."

Betty shrugged. "Sorry, Peter, that's just how Jameson is."

Ned quickly finished his sandwich. "As much as you want to punch him in the face, I suggest you try and get on Jameson's good side. It'll go better for you."

Peter sighed, knowing it wouldn't be an easy task.

* * *

"Bingo," Adrian stated as he successfully found the files.

Isolated once again in his basement, Adrian had spent a good amount of time hacking into Oscorp's files, and finally found some with criminal ties. Besides being an electric engineer, Adrian also had some skills in hacking, which came in handy. He scrolled through several files until he finally found an interesting one. Excited, he called the number on the file.

"Hello, is this Dmitri Smerdyakov?...I have a proposition for you."

* * *

Downtown, an apartment building was completely engulfed in flames. The fire was burning everything apart, and civilians were outside, panicking. A couple of firefighters were doing their best to take out the fire while others were trying to rescue citizens.

"My baby!" a teary woman wailed. "She's still in there!"

The woman tried to go inside, only to be held back by firefighters.

"Ma'am, we're doing everything we can," one of the firefighters promised.

On top of a building across from the apartment, Spider-Man was witnessing the entire thing, ready yet nervous. He had never done anything as extreme as this, but as the protector of New York, he knew it was his job.

"Here we go," Spider-Man sighed as he swung his way into the building.

"It's Spider-Man!" a woman yelled.

Spider-Man made his way into the building, looking for the baby. It wasn't easy. The flames surrounded nearly everything, and the smoke wasn't helping.

"WAHHHH!"

Spider-Man looked around, trying to hear where the crying came from. Realizing it came from the bedroom, Spider-Man ran in. As he searched the room, all the hairs on Spider-Man's body stood up. His instincts were telling him to dodge something coming from the ceiling.

"Whoa!" Spider-Man yelled as he jumped away from burning debris.

"WAAAAAHHHHH!"

Realizing where the crying was specifically coming from, Spider-Man pulled the closet door off and found a baby girl there, covered in a small blanket.

"It's okay. I'm gonna get you out of here," Spider-Man assured as he grabbed the girl.

He ran for the door, only for burning debris to collapse in front of it, blocking his exit.

* * *

The firefighters and crying woman were outside, still worried about what could happen. At that very moment, however, an explosion blew out of the window, and Spider-Man hopped out with the girl.

"Oh, my baby!" the woman shouted in relief.

Spider-Man landed on the ground and handed the baby to the mother.

"Thank you so much," the woman thanked as she hugged Spider-Man.

"Jameson's wrong about you. You're no villain," a firefighter concluded.

"Thanks," Spider-Man said.

Spider-Man swung away, proud of what he had done. Swinging through the city, Spider-Man knew he could definitely get used to this. He also knew that his senses were enhanced in some way, because his instincts had warned him of danger coming. He figured he would call it his Spider-Sense. However, that sense was kicking in again. It was warning him that something was right behind him. Confused, Spider-Man looked behind him, only to be assaulted by the Vulture, in his familiar jacket and wings.

"Well, look who it is. Still sporting the colors brown and green, I see!" Spider-Man joked as Vulture threw him at a building.

"Annoying kid," Vulture remarked as he landed on the building.

Vulture then proceeded to fly at Spider-Man, only for Spider-Man to flip and dodge the attack. Not giving up, Vulture turned around and pinned Spider-Man down. Struggling, Spider-Man punched the Vulture in the stomach, causing him to tumble back. Spider-Man shot some webs at the wings to try and restrain them. That wasn't enough, as Vulture flew at Spider-Man, kicking him off the building. Vulture's wings easily ripped off the webbing like scissors, and he flew down to continue the fight. As he fell towards the ground, Spider-Man shot some web darts at Vulture, only for the villain to deflect them with the wings. Vulture flew towards Spider-Man and grabbed him, flying him towards another building.

Vulture mercilessly slammed Spider-Man on the bricks and glass as he flew right near the building.

"Try and survive this," Vulture sneered as he threw Spider-Man at a radio tower.

Spider-Man shot a web at the radio tower in time, allowing him to cling onto it.

Spider-Man's temporary victory was cut short when Vulture started flying towards the tower, shooting razor feather blades in its direction.

"Hey, watch it!" Spider-Man ordered as he deflected most of the blades with his web.

Much to Spider-Man's dismay, some of the blades were too fast, and they hit the tower despite his efforts to stop them. Before Spider-Man could do anything to patch up the damage, Vulture flew right at him. He smashed Spider-Man right through the tower, causing it to collapse.

"No!" Spider-Man screamed as he kicked Vulture, breaking his grip on him.

Spider-Man dove down and shot some webbing under the collapsing part of the tower, preventing it from colliding with the ground. As he landed down, Spider-Man looked around to see if anybody was hurt. Luckily, no one was. Vulture was still flying in the air, so Spider-Man aimed for a clear shot and noticed a circular device on the back of Vulture's wings. He shot a web at it, and the wings started malfunctioning.

"Damn kid!" Vulture cursed before he fell towards the ground.

Vulture was able to land safely, but not before the NYPD surrounded him. Without his wings functioning, he had no choice but to surrender.

* * *

At home, Peter was sitting in his bedroom watching the news.

"Today, the crimefighter known as Spider-Man was seen battling a winged creature known as the Vulture. Unfortunately, the person Spider-Man fought today was none other than Dmitri Smerdyakov, a.k.a., Chameleon. Smerdyakov can impersonate others by making lifelike masks of whomever he wants to copy. In custody, Smerdyakov confessed that the real Vulture sent him as a decoy to distract Spider-Man so he could rob banks during today's battle. It's unknown who the real Vulture is, but the NYPD's investigation has increased. Further details will be provided once we know more."

"I don't believe it," Peter exclaimed. "I was fighting a clone?"

* * *

In his basement, Adrian was admiring the amount of money he had made. He was glad to have used Chameleon as a decoy, as the entire situation had bought enough time for Adrian to rob as many banks as he could. He felt proud. A bit too proud, in fact.

"Valeria, come down!" Adrian called.

Within seconds, Valeria was down in the basement.

"Valeria, get ready. We're going out to dinner."

Extremely excited, Valeria ran upstairs to change. Chuckling, Adrian went upstairs as well to do the same. Behind the mirror in the basement, there was a completed exoskeleton ready for Adrian.

* * *

At a fancy Italian restaurant, Adrian and Valeria were having dinner. Adrian was dressed in a nice fancy suit while Valeria was in a red dress.

"Dad, thanks a lot for getting dinner with me tonight. It really means a lot to me," Valeria thanked her father.

Adrian put his breadstick down. "No problem, sweetheart. I'm sorry about how busy I've been."

"I understand, Dad. Or, at least I try to understand it."

"I really will try to make more time for you," Adrian promised.

In that very moment, Adrian and Valeria were both happy people. After the rough sequence of events Adrian had gone through recently, he had finally gained a good amount of amount of money for himself and his daughter, although he wasn't sure if it was enough. As for Valeria, she was finally hanging out with her dad after weeks of negligence. Adrian's work had contributed to his estranged relationship with his daughter, but now that Adrian had found an easier way to make money, things were looking to get better for himself and Valeria.

"So, how's school been going for you?" Adrian asked.

"Straight A's," Valeria answered with pride.

"That's good. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad," Valeria said happily.

"I'm sorry I don't say that enough. Your mother congratulated you on your achievements more than I've done. I promise I'll try to do a better job."

"I know, Dad."

At that moment, Adrian noticed Norman Osborn and his family, consisting of Harry and Norman's wife Emily, walk in. Norman sees him as well and walks up to him.

"Hello, Adrian."

"Norman," Adrian said, disgruntled.

"Is this Valeria? Very nice to meet you," Norman said, extending his hand.

"Likewise," Valeria responded, shaking his hand.

The tension was very uncomfortable for everyone. Valeria noticed the discomfort on her father's face and wondered what he was so upset about.

"So, did you hear about the invention fair at Oscorp tomorrow?" Norman asked.

"Oh, I did," Adrian replied.

"It's a shame you won't be able to join us since you got fired," Norman mocked.

Valeria's eyes widened, and she looked at Norman. "What?" she asked, genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, your dad had this crazy idea, and-"

"Not now, Norman!" Adrian interrupted.

Valeria's expression went from shock to anger."Is this true, Dad? Were you fired?"

Adrian looked at his daughter and saw how crushed she was.

He nodded and replied, "Yes, honey. It's true. I was let go a couple weeks ago."

"How could you not tell me?"

"Because I was ashamed of myself. I was the only person that could provide for you since your mom left us, and all of a sudden, I can't."

"Actually, it wasn't all of a sudden." Norman interjected.

"Would you get out of here, Osborn? I think you've done enough," Adrian retaliated.

Norman agreed and walked away to his table.

"I'm out of here, too," Valeria angrily declared.

"No, Valeria, please. Just hear me out."

"I did! You keep making these promises and lying to me. You get my hopes up and crush them. How can I trust you anymore?"

She stormed out, leaving Adrian with mixed emotions of guilt, anger, and betrayal.

* * *

The Oscorp Invention Fair was a big deal in New York. Taking place at Oscorp, it was an opportunity for the people from the city to demonstrate their inventions, and if Norman was impressed, the lucky winners would be able to sign a contract with Oscorp to make their invention a reality. The event attracted thousands of people each year, and crowds increased as the time went by. This year was no different. Except this year, Norman would be announcing Oscorp's newest creation.

Peter was there by request of Jameson to take pictures of the event, including all the winning inventions presented. This was a new experience for Peter. He was so used to just taking pictures of Spider-Man that he wasn't entirely sure what would make great photos that would end up in _The Daily Bugle_.

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention? For those of you who may not know, my name is Norman Osborn. I'm the founder of Oscorp. I started this company with the hopes to change the world with advanced technology. It's worked pretty well over the past couple decades. But one of my biggest goals is to always outdo myself. I want to create things no human being could ever think would exist in this reality."

Peter was amazed by what he was hearing. He had always looked up to Norman Osborn and was enamored by his work over the years. Norman then pulled back a red curtain, revealing an exoskeleton embedded with mechanical wings, eerily similar to Adrian's invention.

"I would like to introduce my newest creation: the world's first flying exoskeleton, giving you the power to fly through the air with great speed and force. While this is a prototype, once completed, it will be indestructible. No matter what happens, whether it be from damage or from being worn out, this suit will still be fully functional."

Daniel Roth, one of Adrian's friends and former colleagues, recognized the same detail of the suit that Adrian had once showed him. Knowing what he had to do, he called Adrian.

* * *

Adrian was lying down in his basement, depressed with everything that had occurred the previous night. Once his phone started ringing, Adrian noticed the caller was his friend Daniel. Curious, he picked it up.

"Adrian, you have to get down here. Osborn just stole your idea and created a flying exoskeleton suit, and it looks exactly like yours!"

"You're kidding," Adrian responded.

"I wish I was."

"I'll take care of it."

Once he hung up the phone, Adrian lost it right there.

"Son of a bitch!"

Norman Osborn was the man who had fired him for his great idea, drove him to become a criminal, intentionally angered his daughter when they were finally hanging out, and now, he had crossed the line. Norman was taking credit for Adrian's idea, and he wasn't gonna get away with it. Furious, Adrian put on his upgraded exoskeleton and flew out of his home, ready to get his revenge on Norman Osborn.

* * *

Continuing with his presentation, Norman explained, "Once completed, the exoskeleton suits will be available for purchase, but for a hefty undetermined price. Together, we will-"

All of a sudden, a loud crash was heard, and glass shards started falling to the ground. People started screaming as Vulture flew in. The moment he was in, Vulture immediately eyed Norman's new creation.

Flying down to Norman, Vulture pulled him by the collar and lifted him up.

"You think you can take what's rightfully mine, Osborn?!" Vulture shouted. "You're not gonna get away with anything this time!"

Vulture grabbed Norman's exoskeleton and flew out of the building, ready to expose Norman for his misdoings.

Shocked, Peter knew he had seen the Vulture somewhere. He'd fought him before, but he felt like he knew the person. Peter's mouth dropped as he recognized the Vulture's angry voice from that fateful day at Oscorp. Not only did he remember Norman referring to the man as 'Adrian,' but the goggles were a pretty lousy way to disguise his face. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized it the first time around. Knowing what had to be done, Peter ran out the back, ready to stop Vulture.

* * *

 **Thank you everyone for reading. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man and Vulture battle it out.**


	6. Clean Slate

**Chapter 6: Clean Slate**

Vulture hovered outside of Oscorp, still holding onto Norman's copycat invention. Before he could destroy it as intended, a web yanked it away.

"Yo, Adrian!" Spider-Man said as he swung at Vulture. "How's Rocky?"

"Insolent little fool!" Vulture growled as he smacked Spider-Man in the face, causing him to free-fall towards the ground.

Spider-Man quickly shot a web at the wall of Oscorp Tower, clinging onto it.

"I see you took my fashion advice!" Spider-Man joked as he admired Vulture's new green exoskeleton.

Ignoring Spider-Man's comment, Vulture flew back into the tower. Two security guards started shooting at Vulture, only for the wings to shield him. Vulture effortlessly fired feather blades at the guards, killing them. Another security guard ran at Vulture, but the villain easily kicked him into the wall. Spider-Man quickly jumped back inside, and Vulture turned to face his nemesis.

"Well, to answer your question, Spider-Man, this new exoskeleton grants me enhanced strength and agility," Vulture answered as he grabbed a security guard and slammed him on the ground. "The wings are more powerful than before. And..."

Vulture flew over to the fleeing Norman and grabbed him.

"It gives me more freedom to do this!"

Vulture flew right out of the building, intent on killing Norman. Spider-Man jumped out and shot a web at Vulture's leg, trying to hold on. Annoyed, Vulture flew as fast as he could to try and yank Spider-Man off, but the hero wouldn't give up. Finally, he gave up and shot some blades at Spider-Man, forcing him to let go and land on a building.

"Adrian, stop! You know this'll only make things worse for you!" Norman demanded.

Adrian flew up to the sky and stopped once they were about 1800 feet in the air.

"You ruined my life, Norman. You fired me, forced me to go down this path, and now you stole what's mine!" Vulture snarled. "You claim this'll make things worse for me, but you should've thought about how I'd react when you stole my idea!"

"Adrian, you're a middle-aged man, and up until Project Vulture, you barely accomplished anything in life. How was anybody gonna believe you did this?" Norman sneered.

Norman's comment further infuriated Adrian. Even when he was on the brink of death, Norman's cruel mouth would never shut up.

"Farewell, Norman. Once you're gone, I'm gonna tear apart that son of yours like I promised!" Vulture spitefully promised.

Vulture didn't hesitate to drop Norman. Allowing him to fall to his death, Vulture was about to fly away until he heard a familiar web swing. He looked down to see Spider-Man rescuing Norman.

"Wow, this is one unusual damsel in distress," Spider-Man quipped as he grabbed Norman and swung onto the top of a hotel.

"Holy shit!"

"That's Spider-Man!"

"Give me my phone!"

Spider-Man looked around and realized there was a pool and a hot tub on the hotel roof. People started taking out their phones while others ran to approach Spider-Man. Before Spider-Man could celebrate his celebrity status, his Spider-Sense started tingling.

"Run!" Spider-Man instructed Norman.

Norman willingly obeyed and ran downstairs. Spider-Man quickly jumped out of the way as Vulture slammed onto the ground. The people in the pool and hot tub started screaming and fleeing.

"You've gotten in my way too many times. Time for you to die," Vulture declared

Vulture grabbed Spider-Man and threw him at a foldable chair, snapping it in half. Spider-Man shot a web at a table and swung it at Vulture, who smashed through it with his wings. Vulture flew at Spider-Man, who flipped and avoided the attack. Vulture shot some blades at Spider-Man, but the hero quickly dodged all of them.

"Stay still!" Vulture spat as he grabbed a web that Spider-Man shot at him.

Vulture then yanked Spider-Man over and kicked him down. Having the advantage, Vulture pinned Spider-Man down with his clawed-foot. With his gauntlets, he started repeatedly punching Spider-Man in the face.

"Enough!" Spider-Man painfully yelled as he grabbed the Vulture's right fist and crushed his gauntlet.

Spider-Man kicked the villain off and shot some webs at another table behind the Vulture.

"Missed," Vulture mocked.

"Nope."

Spider-Man pulled the table as hard as he could, smashing Vulture from behind. Vulture yelled in pain as he stumbled and hopped on one foot.

"I've never seen a vulture hop on one foot," Spider-Man asked as he webbed up Vulture.

"Kid, do you ever shut up?" Vulture sighed.

With all his might, Vulture ripped off the webbing and punched Spider-Man, knocking him down. He grabbed Spider-Man and threw him right off the hotel roof. Knowing he would inevitably be back, Vulture started preparing a new part of his exoskeleton. As predicted, Spider-Man crawled up, ready to resume fighting. He jumped over Vulture and right in front of the pool.

A small cannon started forming on Vulture's left gauntlet, and he started firing small missiles at Spider-Man.

"Oh, shit!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he dodged them all.

The missiles instead hit the pool and parts of the hotel roof, blowing up holes everywhere.

Angered, Spider-Man jumped at Vulture and held onto him. He put him in a chokehold as Vulture started flying around, trying to get the kid off.

"Get off me!"

Vulture grabbed Spider-Man's face, span his body, and threw him through one of the holes in the roof.

Spider-Man was sent falling through two floors before landing in a random hotel room. A young couple was there watching a movie Spider-Man recognized, and they were shocked to see the hero in their room.

" _Karate Kid_ , huh? Great movie! Now run!"

The couple complied, and Spider-Man put himself in a crane position. Vulture flew in through the hole on the ceiling, and Spider-Man crane-kicked Vulture in the face, knocking him down.

"I'd say that was cooler when Daniel did it!" Spider-Man decided as he punched Vulture in the face, knocking him back down.

Irritated, Vulture grabbed Spider-Man's leg and threw him at the door. As Spider-Man got up, Vulture grabbed the TV and threw it at him, sending him into the hallway. The two resumed their fight in the hallway, as Spider-Man deflected most of Vulture's hits.

"You've gotten on my last nerve, kid!" Vulture admitted as he kicked Spider-Man against the window at the end of the hall.

Vulture flew right at Spider-Man and kicked him, sending him through the window and out of the hotel. As Spider-Man fell, Vulture flew towards him and grabbed his neck. He flew right against the hotel and rammed him into the brick wall.

"You're never going to interfere with me again. If you do-"

"Just shut up," Spider-Man interrupted. "I've heard this cliched speech so many times in the movies."

Vulture threw Spider-Man towards the fountain outside of the hotel. Spider-Man fell right on it, smashing the fountain and sending water everywhere. Spider-Man groaned in pain but acted fast when Vulture flew at him. Grabbing Vulture by the sides, Spider-Man lifted him and threw him right on the ground. He ripped off Vulture's goggles and threw them.

"This. Ends. NOW!" Spider-Man yelled as he flipped Vulture over on his stomach.

Spider-Man plunged his fist through the harness of Vulture's wings and tore out a bunch of wires, disabling the suit.

"Why didn't I think of that before?" Spider-Man genuinely asked himself as he webbed Vulture to the ground.

Police cars started approaching, and Spider-Man swung away.

* * *

A miserable Adrian was lying in his prison cell. Not only was he unable to find more money for his daughter, but he didn't know what would happen to Valeria now that he was in prison. Maybe she would move in with her mother, but he didn't like that idea. It wasn't only Norman Osborn he blamed at this point. It was also Spider-Man. Adrian was doing everything for his daughter, but Spider-Man continuously got in the way. He started to wonder if Spider-Man would act the same if he knew of Adrian's reasons.

"Toomes! Your daughter's here to see you," a guard told him from behind the cell.

Adrian sat up as the guard opened the cell and took him to a private room. When Adrian walked inside, he saw Valeria sitting down with her hands folded in her lap. He couldn't imagine what was going through her head at that moment.

"Hi, sweetheart," Adrian said as he sat down.

Valeria looked up at him with tears running down her face. "Why?"

Adrian looked down, knowing what she was asking. "I did it for you."

"You killed people and robbed so many places for me?"

"No, Valeria. This is why I didn't want you to know that I was fired. I felt that since your mother left, I didn't know if I could provide for you. And it killed me. I didn't know what else to do. When your classmates went on that field trip, and Norman Osborn was giving the tour, I tried bringing up my idea to him, and he shot me down. I tried selling my creation elsewhere and was unsuccessful. I robbed those places so I could at least have money to provide for you. But then, Osborn and that Spider-Man character made it personal. Osborn stole my idea, and Spider-Man kept getting in my way. And that's why I've been trying to upgrade the suit. I need it to be powerful enough to get rid of those who get in my way."

"And that's why you couldn't spend time with me? So you could hurt and kill innocent people?"

"I didn't want to!" Adrian shouted.

Valeria looked down, regretting what she said.

"I didn't know what else I could do! If I wanted to provide for you and keep you safe, I needed to make money quickly. Oscorp wasn't paying me enough, and there weren't any other high-paying jobs nearby. I did what I had to do, and I don't regret it, no matter what you say or how you feel. I don't care that those bastards at Specter are dead. And as for Norman Osborn? That bastard should be grateful he's still alive because of Spider-Man. If that bug hadn't gotten in the way, Osborn would be dead, and Oscorp would be doomed. If I had to do it again, I would."

Valeria couldn't believe that the man speaking this way to her was her father. She had lost so much in her life, and now she had no parents to be there for her.

"You're sick, Dad. You didn't do any of this for me, you did it for yourself. You wouldn't spend time with me so you could build your stupid suit, and you used me when your suit helped you steal. Your suit's a distraction, a hobby for you. But I'm your daughter. I'm the only family you've got. What's more important than that?"

"Listen to me, Valeria. I'm trying to do the right thing here. I never used you and never would. When I took you to dinner, that was because I really wanted to. My suit may be a distraction, but it's only because it's what I'm best at. And that Spider-Man has ruined everything for me! And that's why you think I'm at fault here."

Valeria knew her father was just in denial. Spider-Man didn't put her father in prison. He did it to himself.

"I'm done, Dad. I don't want to see you ever again. As far as I'm concerned, you're no longer my family," Valeria said before walking out.

Angry, Adrian now realized he truly had no one. He was alone, which wasn't really different than how his life had recently been.

* * *

With his week of suspension over, Peter went back to school and resumed his high school life. He was at his locker putting his books away when Harry walked up to him.

"Hey, Pete! Welcome back."

"Thanks, Harry," Peter said with a smile

"So, I'm assuming you heard about what happened at Oscorp."

"Yeah, I did. Crazy ex-employee builds flying exoskeleton and gets revenge on the boss who fired him and stole his ideas. You don't make this stuff up."

"No, I guess not," Harry responded.

"How's your dad doing? Is he traumatized or anything?" Peter asked.

"No, he's fine. He's not a sentimental man, so he doesn't show any emotion really. He thinks that Vulture guy is a psychopath who belongs in prison or in some institution."

"Well, it's good that Spider-Man saved your dad and stopped Vulture."

"Yeah, I guess," Harry replied unenthusiastically.

"What do you mean? Do you not like Spider-Man?" Peter asked.

"It's not that I don't like him, Pete. It's just that it seems he's all the city has been talking about lately."

"Well, he's a unique human being. That is, if he's even human. He's a viral sensation. He isn't just big in New York. More people around the country and even the world are finding out about him. From what I hear, most people really like him. He's a good guy," Peter defended.

"You're right. I just wish that if they have to talk about the guy, it wouldn't be to the extent that it is. There are more important things going on in the world," Harry argued.

"Yeah, but Spider-Man makes the world better. People feel safer because of this guy. And being in New York, feeling safe isn't necessarily how people feel. But he's changing that."

As they were talking, Flash walked up to them.

"Hey, Parker!"

"What do you want, Flash?" Peter sighed, annoyed.

"Look, man, I just want to apologize. I didn't know your uncle had died when I tried to fight you, and I feel bad. I'm really sorry."

Shocked, Peter didn't really know what to say. This was a side of Flash he had never seen. Hell, most people probably hadn't seen a side of Flash like this.

"Thank you?"

Flash didn't respond and walked away.

"What the hell was that?" Harry wondered.

"I think Flash has finally changed," Peter realized.

"I wouldn't trust him yet. Don't let him get to you."

"I won't, Harry."

* * *

"Toomes! You have a visitor!"

"Is it my daughter?" Adrian asked.

"Wilson Fisk."

Adrian and Wilson Fisk had been friends for a long time. They had known each other since college but didn't keep in touch as much as they would have liked to once they started their careers. Wilson was known around the city as one of the scariest and most powerful mob bosses. Even though he was a criminal, he was able to buy his way out of many different situations. That's how he scored a visit to see his old friend.

Wilson was often bullied for being obese, which wasn't a good time for him. He and Adrian first became friends when Adrian stood up for him. As he got older, Fisk became stronger and used a cane as a weapon against those who crossed him, earning the nickname Kingpin.

Adrian walked in a private room and saw Wilson waiting for him. Adrian had lost everyone important to him in life, so the sight of his old friend was nice. A tall, bald, obese yet strong man, Wilson Fisk was not the kind of person you wanted to mess with.

"Wilson Fisk," Adrian said happily.

Wilson smiled. "Adrian."

They hugged and sat down.

"It's good to see you. It's been many years," Adrian exclaimed.

"30 years," Wilson nodded. "Listen, I came by because I heard about what's been going on with you. You're this flying Vulture guy, and I just wanted to congratulate you."

"On what?" Adrian asked.

"For becoming the newest most-talked about criminal in New York City."

"That's what I was afraid of. Look, Wilson, this isn't the kind of guy I am. I did all those things for my daughter...to provide for her. I'm the only one who can. Her mother left when she was little, and she never knew any of her grandparents. I was fired from Oscorp, so I don't have a really good chance getting a better high-paying job."

"Especially with you being here."

Adrian nodded, knowing his friend was right.

"Listen, I want to help you in any way I can."

Adrian wanted his revenge, and even though he never fully accomplished it, he knew his old friend could.

"Yeah, there is something."

"Anything. Name it."

"You know that Spider-Man punk?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, I do. He's the reason you're in here."

"I want you to put a bounty on that bastard for $20,000. I want him dead."

"How are you gonna come up with that money?" Wilson asked.

Adrian smiled evilly and responded, "I already have it. That bug is gonna regret he ever messed with me."

* * *

"Hey, Mr. Jameson. I got some photos of Spider-Man and Vulture," Peter greeted as he walked into his boss' office.

"Sit down. Let me see them."

Peter sat down and handed the photos to him.

Looking through them, Jameson still wasn't very impressed. It seemed like Peter could do no good there, no matter how good the photos truly were.

"They stink. Robertson, get in here!"

Robbie walked in. "Yeah, boss?"

"Here are some photos of the menace and Vulture. Pick the best photo, and put it on the front page. Headline it, 'Spider-Man and Vulture Attack Oscorp'."

Robbie nodded but shook his head when he walked out.

"Alright, kid, I'll give you $300 bucks."

"What? Mr. Jameson, isn't there any way you can give me more? I really need the money so I can help my aunt."

"$500. Now, get out."

Remembering Ned's advice, Peter stormed out. Peter may not have been a big fan of J. Jonah Jameson, especially because of his hatred for Spider-Man, but at least he knew Aunt May could still be taken care of.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	7. Hunted

**Chapter 7: Hunted**

"What's up, New York City?!" Spider-Man excitedly yelled as he swung throughout the city.

Approximately a month had passed since Vulture was sent to prison. Since then, Spider-Man had been dealing with a pattern of men trying to kill him in different ways. He dismissed it as a bunch of crazy psychos wanting to kill him, but he started to ask himself if it was all connected or not.

He landed on a building top and sat down, trying to think it all through. Who would want to kill Spider-Man this much? Sure, there was the Vulture, but he was in prison. Unless he had men on the outside. That was unlikely, however, as the news had reported that Vulture's justification for his criminal activities was financially supporting his daughter. So how could Vulture possibly have men on the outside? It just didn't seem possible.

These thoughts were really giving Spider-Man a headache, and it didn't help when his Spider-Sense started tingling. It was warning him to move. Spider-Man quickly moved his head to the left, avoiding a sniper bullet. He turned around and looked up to see a sniper on another building.

"Just my luck," Spider-Man groaned as he shot a web at the building, swinging over to it.

The sniper started shooting at Spider-Man, who dodged all of the bullets.

"Come on, really?" Spider-Man chuckled as he grabbed the sniper's rifle and snapped it in half. "Sniper no sniping."

The sniper threw a fist at Spider-Man, only for him to easily grab it.

"Normally, I would just leave you for the cops," Spider-Man explained as he threw the sniper aside. "But I'm gonna need some answers. This has been going on since Adrian Toomes was arrested. Who's behind this all?"

"You're not getting a damn word out of me," the sniper coldly stated.

Spider-Man shrugged. "Okay."

Spider-Man grabbed the sniper and threw him off the building. The sniper screamed for his life, and Spider-Man quickly shot a web at him, dangling him from the building. Spider-Man yanked the web, and the sniper landed back on the building.

"You wanna go for another ride?" Spider-Man warned.

"Okay, I'll talk!" the sniper exclaimed. "Kingpin and Vulture put a bounty on your head for $20,000! Please don't kill me!"

Spider-Man swung towards the ground with the sniper and webbed him on top of a lamppost, leaving him for the police. The young hero swung away, furious that people were now trying to kill him for money. He needed a plan, some way to force the notorious crime boss to call off the hit.

* * *

Adrian, Wilson, and Chameleon were all in a private room at the prison, and they weren't happy with their current progress in taking down Spider-Man.

"One month, nine men!" Wilson angrily yelled. "That means nine failed attempts to kill that bug!"

"Funny, Fisk. By this point, I thought your men would've handled it," Chameleon chuckled.

"Don't insult the man," Adrian scolded. "He's doing his best."

"I underestimated him," Wilson admitted. "That webhead is more powerful than I thought."

"I may have a way," Chameleon revealed.

Adrian's eyes widened. "He better be enough to-"

"He's more than capable," Chameleon started. "My half-brother Sergei Kravinoff, or as he likes to call himself, Kraven the Hunter. You may have heard of him. He's the most notorious and murderous hitman in Russia. He aspires to be the greatest hunter in the world. He may be enough to take down Spider-Man."

"I've heard stories about him. How many people has he killed?" Wilson asked.

"From what I last heard, around 400."

Adrian nodded in approval, and Wilson was sold.

"This'll be one hell of a hunt for him," Wilson said.

* * *

During lunch at school, Valeria was sitting alone at a table picking at her food. She was devastated that her father was in prison. Luckily, she was able to prove she could live on her own, so she was still living at home and able to go to school. Legally, she was allowed to do so because she was 18, but it wouldn't make up for anything. Sadly, she was just alone.

Peter carried his tray toward his table, where he usually sat with Harry, until he saw Valeria, one of the most popular kids in school, sad and sitting alone. Considering she was a senior, he never really got to know her that well. He looked at Harry, who waved him over. Peter shook his head and walked toward Valeria.

"H-Hi, Valeria."

Valeria looked up at him but didn't respond.

"My name's Peter. Parker."

"I know who you are, Peter. I've seen your Spidey photos. They're pretty good."

"T-Thank you," Peter smiled. "You mind if I sit down?"

Valeria shook her head, and Peter sat down.

"I'm really sorry to hear about your dad."

"Thanks."

"Listen, I may not be the best person to comfort you about this, but I sort of know what you're going through. When I was a little kid, both my parents were killed in a plane crash, and my uncle was recently murdered. So, I kinda know how it feels to not have family."

"I heard about that. Your uncle. That's terrible what happened to him. I'm really sorry about that."

"Thank you. Look, I just want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk at all."

"Thank you, Peter. But I'd just like to be alone right now."

"Okay. Enjoy your lunch."

Valeria watched Peter walk away, thankful that she had someone like Peter supporting her through this.

* * *

In the depths of Moscow, corrupt police officer Kharli Beyts was enjoying the night. He was driving with his partner Frenki Smolls. It was around 11 PM, and the two cops were just driving around.

"It's very quiet out here," Kharli said.

"Not usually like this," Frenki pointed out.

Glass was heard breaking in a nearby alley, startling the two cops. Kharli stopped the car, and they both got out, taking out their guns.

"Police!" Frenki warned, "Put your hands up!"

The two cops ran into the alley. Within a couple seconds, gunshots were heard, and then Frenki's screams. Horrified, Kharli ran out of the alley.

"What the hell do you want?!" Kharli yelled as he ran back to the cruiser.

Unfortunately, a knife hit the back of Kharli's leg, knocking him down. Kharli yelled in pain and tried to grab his gun, but a knife hit it. Kharli looked up to see the horrifying man walking over. The man was wearing a loincloth jacket, and his dark hair was slicked back. His evil brown eyes glared at Kharli.

"No, please! C'mon, man!" Kharli pleaded.

The man kicked Kharli in the face, pulling out his sword.

"'Man'? I have a name, you know. Kraven the Hunter."

Kraven impaled Kharli with the sword, killing him instantly. Lying in the alley was Frenki's body, covered with knives.

All of a sudden, Kraven heard a noise come from the alley. Unbeknownst to what the sound came from, Kraven got his sword ready.

"Who's there?!"

Wilson Fisk walked out of another alleyway and folded his hands in front of him.

"Wilson Fisk, mob boss of New York's underworld," he said.

"I've heard of you," Kraven revealed.

"Who wouldn't? And I know you. Sergei Kravinoff. Your half-brother Dmitri has told me about you. I assume you've heard about the Spider-Man that's been swinging around in New York."

"He put my brother in prison."

"That's right. And I bet you want revenge."

Kraven nodded, intending to save his brother.

"I have a job for you. It pays well. $20,000 to kill Spider-Man."

Kraven sadistically smiled at the opportunity. He had killed several men before, but Spider-Man would be a challenge.

"I'll take it."

* * *

Spider-Man crouched on a building top, waiting for some action. Much to his annoyance, his phone started ringing. He took it out to see it was Aunt May. He sighed and picked up.

"What is it, Aunt May?" Spider-Man asked.

"Peter, do you have any idea what time is it? It's 10:15!" Aunt May said, concerned.

"Crap, I lost track of time! I'll be leaving the library soon!" Spider-Man lied.

"The library isn't open at 10:00 at night, Peter! Why are you lying-"

Hanging up, Spider-Man swung down to the ground. He knew he had to get home soon, or May would kill him.

BOOM!

Startled, Spider-Man started swinging over to the source of the loud sound. Once he got there, the scene he saw wasn't pleasant. A car was flipped on the ground, and flames were starting to form. Inside the damaged car was an injured man.

"HELP! PLEASE!" the man desperately screamed.

Spider-Man ran over and ripped the door off the car.

"Grab my hand!" Spider-Man instructed, extending his hand.

The man grabbed Spider-Man's hand, and the hero pulled him out. The man's arm was broken, and part of his forehead was bleeding.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Spider-Man asked.

"I was just driving, and the next thing I know, this man with a loincloth just-"

If it weren't for his Spider-Sense, Spider-Man wouldn't have been able to shoot a web and deflect the knife that was thrown at the man.

"Run!"

The man ran away, and Spider-Man faced an incredibly buff and sadistic-looking man in a loincloth jacket.

"Another one sent by Fisk?" Spider-Man chuckled. "This should be easy."

"I finally get to meet the world-famous Spider-Man."

"Who the hell are you?" Spider-Man asked.

"My name is Sergei Kravinoff. I'm known as Kraven the Hunter."

"And what do you hunt? People?" Spider-Man joked.

"Spiders!" Kraven shouted.

Kraven pulled out his sword and threw it at Spider-Man. Spider-Man shot a web at the sword and threw it on the ground, breaking it in half.

"You think that's the only sword I've got?" Kraven asked, pulling out 2 smaller swords.

This time, he charged toward Spider-Man and started waving his swords around, attempting to impale the masked hero. Spider-Man quickly dodged all of Kraven's blows, and kicked away one of the swords. Kraven attempted to stab Spider-Man with his second sword, but Spider-Man yanked it away with a web, throwing it out of view. He was then punched to the ground by the Russian hitman.

"Stay down, spider," Kraven ordered before tying him up with a lasso.

"You know, for a hunter that carries a lot of weapons on him, you'd think they'd be stronger," Spider-Man mocked before breaking free of the lasso and shooting a web at Kraven's chest.

Kraven pulled the webbing off his chest and pulled out a spear.

"How do you fit everything in your pockets?" Spider-Man asked, eyes widened.

"I have big pockets," Kraven responded before tossing the spear at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man caught the spear in his hand and snapped it in half.

"See? Your weapons aren't strong."

Growling, Kraven charged toward Spider-Man and started punching him repeatedly.

Groaning, Spider-Man said, "You should rely on your fists more than your weapons."

"You're right. I should. Thanks for the tip," Kraven said before punching Spider-Man in the jaw.

Spider-Man lifted his leg and kneed Kraven in the groin. Kraven stumbled back while Spider-Man hopped to his feet and started shooting web pellets at him, which Kraven tried to block with his arms.

Kraven pulled out a dagger and ran over to Spider-Man, swinging it multiple times. Spider-Man swiftly dodged all of his hits and kicked Kraven, knocking him down.

The burning car exploded nearby, shocking both of the combatants. Kraven used the distraction as an opportunity to pull out another dagger and charge at Spider-Man. Despite Spider-Man's Spider-Sense, Kraven's agility was ultimately the advantage as Kraven swung at Spider-Man's shoulder, cutting him.

"Ah!" Spider-Man yelled as he stumbled against a car.

Kraven aimed the dagger at Spider-Man's face, only for the hero to quickly grab it. Spider-Man then flipped Kraven over on the ground.

As the fight ended, NYPD squad cars surrounded them.

"Police! Put your arms in the air!"

Spider-Man put his arms in the air before shooting a web at a nearby building and quickly swinging away. Kraven got up and ran as fast as he could from the scene.

* * *

To ensure his aunt wouldn't see the bruises on his face and arm, Peter pulled his school hoodie out of his backpack and put it on before walking back in his house.

He saw Aunt May turn on the lights while she was sitting in the living room waiting for him.

"Where the hell have you been?" Aunt May asked, angrily.

"I was out," Peter responded lazily.

"At midnight? Peter, look at me."

Peter kept his head down.

"Take off your hood and look at me!"

Peter put his hood down and looked at her, revealing the bruises on his face.

"Oh my god. How did that happen?" Aunt May asked, rushing to him.

"I got in a bike accident," Peter lied.

"You don't have a bike."

"I...borrowed a friend's," Peter answered, lying again.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, May, really."

"Okay. But you're grounded for being out so late. Besides school and work, you are not allowed to leave this house," Aunt May declared.

"What? Aunt May, please reconsider."

"No, Peter! You keep leaving me worried sick about you. After what happened to your uncle, how do you think I'm supposed to feel? You stay out all of these hours, and I can't help but worry that you'll end up like Ben."

Peter understood what his aunt was going through, but he still felt that he was a teenager, and he wanted to have freedom outside of his home.

"Just go to sleep, Peter. You have school tomorrow."

* * *

The next day at school, Peter and Harry were having lunch in the cafeteria before Liz walked up to them.

"Hi, Peter. Harry."

"Hi, Liz," Peter and Harry said in unison.

"Peter, I was wondering if you'd able to tutor me. I need some help with Chemistry, and you're at the top of our class."

Peter smiled, knowing she was right. But he also remembered that Liz was dating Flash, and if he found out they were hanging out, he wouldn't take it very well.

"Won't Flash be angry?" Peter asked.

"Why would he be angry about it? You and I aren't seeing each other or anything."

"I know, but he hates me."

"Peter, he's just jealous of you. You get all the right answers, and it makes him feel dumb or something," Liz told him.

"Oh. Well, sure, I'll tutor you, Liz. I can't be the only one making him feel dumb," Peter agreed enthusiastically.

"Is after school at 3:30 okay? In the library?"

"Sure."

"Great. Thanks, Pete. See you later," Liz thanked before walking away.

Peter watched her leave, afraid that Flash wasn't gonna be too kind about his girlfriend hanging out with Puny Parker.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

 **To our reviewer that asked about great-detailed and connecting Spider-Man stories, I'd recommend 'Spider-Man: Year One' by Cking91**


	8. Plan B

**Chapter 8: Plan B**

"So ionic bonds are when atoms transfer electrons to other atoms?"

"Correct," Peter proudly told Liz.

Peter had been helping Liz with chemistry in the school library for the past 2 hours, and he was proud of his progress, as Liz did seem to be getting better at the subject.

"And ions are atoms that have lost or gained electrons, right?" Liz asked.

"Yep," Peter confirmed. "Plus, positive ions are created by electron loss and are attached to the cathode in electrolysis."

The entire time, Harry had been doing his homework at a different table, and he kept on shooting Peter smirks.

"Thanks, Pete! I might actually be prepared for the test tomorrow!" Liz thanked. "You're a great tutor."

Peter blushed a little. "Why, you're welcome."

Liz's phone let out a small ringtone. Checking it, Liz started to pack her things.

"My mom's here. Thanks again! I'll let you know how I do!" Liz told Peter.

She walked out of the library, and Harry went over to Peter's table.

"So, anything interesting happen?" Harry asked, wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis.

"Shut up," Peter chuckled. "She just wants help in Chemistry. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That better be the case," Flash warned, walking over to their table.

"Here we go again," Harry sighed.

"There better not be anything going on between you guys besides tutoring," Flash said abrasively. "If so-"

"Enough!" Peter interrupted, already annoyed with the situation. "There's nothing going on between us, and there never will. I have no interest in her."

Flash's glare didn't change, further intensifying the situation.

"Back off, Flash!" Harry ordered. "Don't you have better things to do?"

Flash walked away, still with a furious look on his face.

* * *

Peter walked into his house, and the first thing he saw was Aunt May cooking her famous lasagna for dinner.

"Look, Aunt May, I just need to apologize again for coming home so late yesterday," Peter apologized. "It was inexcusable, and it won't happen again."

"It's all right, Peter. You're young. These things happen," Aunt May responded.

"So, will you unground me?"

"Peter…"

"Aunt May, please!" Peter begged. "I swear it won't happen again. I just have a lot of things to do."

"Fine," Aunt May reluctantly agreed. "But you better not be out late again."

"Won't happen again. If need be, I'll call you," Peter said as he ran up to his room.

Inside his room, Peter got on his computer and started researching Wilson Fisk and Kraven the Hunter. Because of those two criminals, Peter had nearly been killed multiple times in the past month. He needed a plan to take them down, but he required some info first.

In his research, Peter found out that Kraven and Chameleon were related. Spider-Man had put Kraven the Hunter's half-brother in prison. Seemed like Kraven wanted revenge.

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" Adrian yelled as he slammed his hand on the table in the private room.

Wilson had updated Adrian on the situation with Kraven, and just as expected, Adrian wasn't pleased.

"Look, I'm not happy about it, either. But for now, we're gonna have to lay low," Wilson sighed.

"And let that Spider-Man roam free through the city? No way. I can't let that happen. He ruined everything for me, and he needs to pay," Adrian argued.

"I don't disagree, but the more people you bring into this mess, and the more people Spider-Man takes down, the higher chance that this will all blow up in your face."

"Then, find someone else! Kraven had a chance and ruined it. Find someone better, Fisk," Adrian ordered.

"Give the guy another chance."

"And why the hell should I?" Adrian asked.

"Well, you didn't end up in prison until you fought Spider-Man a second time, right?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, give Kraven one last chance before you go looking for someone else to ultimately end up here fighting Spider-Man and losing."

Adrian thought hard about what Fisk said and realized that if Spider-Man really did end up dead from this, at least he could sleep at night.

"Fine. But this is it."

* * *

Peter and Aunt May were eating lasagna and sitting on the couch in the living room, watching the news.

"Breaking news! A mysterious murderer has killed 17 people and injured 29 at the Queens Center today. The massacre took place about an hour ago."

The TV showed footage of the mall after the massacre, and it wasn't pretty at all. It looked like some vicious animal had gone loose, as blood was everywhere.

"Currently, the identity of the killer and his motives are unknown, but we've found a message from him."

Goosebumps went down Peter's spine as the TV revealed a message written in blood on the wall.

COME AND CATCH ME, SPIDER-MAN.

"From what we can conclude, this killer has a grudge against Spider-Man for unknown reasons, and clearly, he's asking for a fight. Looks like this massacre was a message."

"That's terrible," Aunt May said. "What could Spider-Man have done?"

"Not sure," Peter lied.

A gut-wrenching feeling entered Peter's stomach. Kraven had killed several people to send a message to Spider-Man and all because he lost a fight between them and didn't get his money. He was looking for a fight, and Peter decided he was gonna get one.

* * *

Spider-Man swung around Queens, trying to track down Kraven. He had been searching for the past hour, and so far, nothing. He was actually somewhat nervous for the inevitable fight, as Kraven had proven to be more formidable of a foe than Spidey expected, and he was too dangerous to be left around the public.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Spider-Man swung down to a building top and webbed his camera there. He jumped to the ground and was instantly horrified by the sight. 3 burned car remains were there, and much to Spider-Man's dismay, the deceased drivers were inside.

"No," Spider-Man whispered in distress.

His Spider-Sense went off, and he turned around to see Kraven, who was wielding a spiked chain.

"How sick are you?" Spider-Man asked him angrily.

Kraven bowed. "What can I say? Killing is an art. And a pleasure."

Immensely furious, Spider-Man swung over to Kraven, who grabbed the hero by the neck and threw him at a car.

Groaning, Spider-Man stood back up and stared at him.

"You killed all those innocent people!" Spider-Man angrily shouted as he ran over to Kraven.

Kraven swung his chain at Spider-Man multiple times, with the latter dodging each swing. As he was dodging the swings, Kraven eventually hit him, knocking him down to the ground.

Kraven walked over to him and kicked him across the rubble of the wreck he had caused. He pulled out a sword and swung it at Spider-Man, who dodged and grabbed it. Once he threw the sword aside, Kraven threw a kick, only for Spider-Man to grab his leg. Spider-Man then threw Kraven at some debris, and started webbing him down.

"Weak little webs," Kraven remarked as he easily ripped the webs apart.

Spider-Man ran at Kraven, but the villain had the upper hand as he ducked Spider-Man's punch and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him down. Kraven then punched Spider-Man multiple times in the stomach, causing him to fall down.

"Amusing. A person with such abilities, beaten by a man with no powers at all. Just an expert at hunting," Kraven laughed as he stepped on Spider-Man's neck.

"This is for putting my brother in prison," Kraven said as he pulled out a spear and aimed it at Spider-Man's chest.

Kraven pushed the spear down, but in the heat of the moment, Spider-Man caught it. Kraven tried as hard as he could to impale Spider-Man, but Spider-Man kicked Kraven back. Spider-Man brought the spear down on his knee, snapping it in half. As Kraven struggled to get up, Spider-Man shot a web at the villain's leg and yanked it, pulling him to the ground. Spider-Man jumped onto Kraven's chest, prompting Kraven to shout out in pain.

Spider-Man raised a fist. "This is for those people you killed in cold blood."

Spider-Man started repeatedly punching Kraven in the face, hard enough that it would hurt, but not hard enough that it would kill him.

"I just hunted you down. Now, who's the greatest hunter in the world?" Spider-Man mocked.

"Spider-Man! Don't kill him!" a familiar voice yelled.

Spider-Man turned to see a shocked Ned there, and he had his camera.

Police cars started arriving at the scene, and Spider-Man webbed the unconscious Kraven to the ground.

"Jesus, is he still alive?!" one of the cops shouted.

"You! In the tights! Hands up, now!" another cop demanded.

Spider-Man looked at Kraven's body. His face was full of bruises, and he was knocked out cold. Had Spider-Man gone too far?

"Freeze!"

"Get down on the ground!"

"Surrender, or we'll open fire!"

Overwhelmed with everything that was happening, Spider-Man swung away, dodging bullets coming his way.

* * *

Peter and Ned were sitting in Jameson's office, as they had both gotten pictures of the brutal fight that had occurred between Spider-Man and Kraven.

"Goddamn menace thinks he's some kind of hero, creating collateral damage with that Kraven the Hunter!" Jameson ranted. "Anyways, let's see what you guys got!"

Peter sighed and gave Jameson his envelope, and Ned did the same thing. Jameson pulled out Peter's photos first.

"A little better than usual, but still mega crap," Jameson dismissed. "Let's see yours, Ned."

Jameson opened Ned's envelope to find better high-resolution pictures of the fight. He looked through the pictures until he found the one where Spider-Man was mercilessly pummeling Kraven with his fists.

"This one! I love it!" Jameson excitedly exclaimed as he pressed a button.

Robbie came in and knew it wasn't a good sign to see Jameson smiling at the photo that made Spider-Man look bad.

"Title this, 'SPIDER-MAN NEARLY BEATS MAN TO DEATH!'," Jameson ordered.

"No surprise there," Peter muttered.

"Mr. Jameson, with all due respect, Spider-Man was trying to stop that hitman," Ned pointed out.

"Kraven did kill several people," Robbie agreed.

"Fine. 'SPIDER-MAN NEARLY BEATS HITMAN TO DEATH!'"

"Mr. Jameson-" Ned started.

"You know I'm right here!" Jameson interrupted. "The paramedics even said that Kraven barely survived!"

Shaking his head, Robbie left. Peter and Ned did as well.

"Can't believe this," Peter complained.

"Neither can I, man," Ned said.

* * *

A few weeks later, Peter was once again tutoring Liz in the school library. Liz was doing fairly better in Chemistry, but finals were just around the corner, and she wanted to make sure she was doing the best she could and giving her full effort.

"Peter, I just want to thank you."

"What for?" Peter asked, as if he didn't know why.

"For all the tutoring. I have to say I was wrong about you," Liz admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I always thought you were this nerdy dork that no one wanted to be seen with, but I really don't see you that way. You're a genuinely nice and friendly person, and I'm really sorry I misjudged you."

"Hey, it's no big deal. When people think that someone's a nerd, it seems that they're automatically labeled an outcast. So I get it. It's just what I have to deal with," Peter said sadly.

"But you shouldn't have to deal with it. You should stand up for yourself," Liz told him.

Truthfully, Liz cared about Peter and didn't want him to spend the rest of his high school career miserable everyday.

"I have. The last time I did that, I got suspended for beating up your boyfriend," Peter remembered.

"Although the timing wasn't right, I'm glad you stood up to him."

"I don't get it. If you don't like the way Flash acts, why don't you just break up with him?" Peter asked. "Harry and I have been wondering that for a while."

"Yeah, why don't you?" Flash asked as he walked up to them. "You hang out with Puny Parker so much, you're practically dating him anyway."

"We're not dating!" Liz shouted. "Why do I have to keep explaining myself to you? He's just tutoring me!"

"If I find you two hanging out again, Liz, we're done. Then, you can make Parker a real man," Flash threatened.

"You cannot be serious," Peter protested.

"Flash, please!" Liz pleaded.

"I'm serious!" Flash confirmed, storming out.

"I'm sorry, Liz. You deserve much better than him," Peter apologized.

"You're right. I do," Liz replied with a tear rolling down her face.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Valeria is back.**


	9. Major Upgrade

**Chapter 9: Major Upgrade**

At lunch that day, Valeria was sitting with Peter and Harry. She didn't want to continue sitting alone in misery, and she thought that sitting with some friends would be a nice distraction.

"Valeria, you going to the football game tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"Not sure," Valeria dryly responded.

"Well, you should join Harry and I. It'll be fun," Peter offered.

A smile crept across Valeria's face.

"You know what? I'll go, and we'll hang. But I have a better idea."

* * *

The Midtown High football game was unsurprisingly packed, as it was the final football game of the school year before winter break. There were students everywhere in the bleachers, and most of them were all dressed in Midtown clothing.

Peter, Harry, and Valeria were making their way through the bleachers. Valeria was taking her new friends to a surprise place.

"Seriously? Where are you taking us?" Harry asked, still confused.

"Still a surprise," Valeria responded, moving through a crowd of people with Peter and Harry.

Eventually, Valeria found her fellow popular senior friends and signaled for Peter and Harry to sit with them.

"Everyone, this is Peter Parker and Harry Osborn," Valeria introduced. "Pete, Harry, these are my friends."

Some of the seniors were already aware of Harry, so they started making conversation with him. As for Peter, however, nobody really tried to make conversation with him.

At that moment, the football game began. As usual, the cheerleaders performed the Midtown victory theme to start off. Peter could easily spot Liz among them. When Liz spotted Peter, she winked at him, and Peter smiled in return.

"I'm gonna go get a hot dog," Valeria said. "Anyone wanna come with me?"

"I'll go," Peter volunteered.

Valeria smiled and they both left the bleachers.

"You got a crush on Liz or something?" Valeria chuckled as they walked to the concession stands.

"Nah, she's just a friend," Peter sighed as they made their way towards the line to the hot dog cart.

"You ever have a girlfriend before?"

"No. I haven't even liked a girl since the eighth grade."

Valeria's eyes widened. "Why not?"

"Why do you think? I'm just Peter Parker, school nerd and outcast. What's the point in trying if nobody's gonna go out with me?"

Valeria put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Don't say that, Peter. Nothing good ever comes from putting yourself down."

"Hi, what would you like?"

Valeria turned to the cart and realized it was her turn.

"Hi, one hot dog, please."

"Alright, $3 dollars," the women behind the cart said.

Valeria handed the woman the money and got her hot dog.

"Back to what I was saying," Valeria continued as she started putting ketchup and mustard on her hot dog. "You shouldn't ever think so low about yourself, Pete. You're legit the smartest guy I know. Who gives a crap about what other people think?"

Once Valeria said all that, Peter really did start to take her words to heart. Although anyone would assume that Valeria was just the typical hot popular girl in the senior class, she had more going on in her life than anyone would expect. As a result of her father's incarceration, she had no family left anymore, as her mother was out of the state, and she didn't want anything to do with her father anymore. Deep down, she was lost.

"You're right, Valeria. Thanks for the advice," Peter thanked.

"No problem. I'm always here for you," Valeria promised.

"And I'm here for you, too, Valeria. Even though you feel like you're alone, I promise you're not. I'll be here if you need anything."

Valeria smiled as much as she could and gave Peter a hug. Laughing, Peter and Valeria went back to the bleachers.

* * *

Wilson Fisk was a very rich man. Thanks to his so-called successes in life, Fisk was able to earn enough money to build whatever he wanted, including a casino and warehouse, the latter of which he had just been summoned to by an employee, Phineas Mason. A man with gray hair and glasses, Mason had worked for Fisk for nearly 20 years.

Phineas Mason, a.k.a., the Tinkerer, was an expert at engineering. Fisk had asked him to design and lead construction in his casino and warehouse after learning about his work. Mason was known for creating advanced weapons, so Fisk figured Mason would be the perfect guy for this job, too.

Fisk walked inside his warehouse and saw Mason and a guy he didn't recognize. The man was tall and muscular, and he had short black hair.

"You want to tell me why I'm here and who the hell this guy is, Mason?"

"Mr. Fisk, this is MacDonald Gargan, a friend of mine. He prefers to be called Mac," Phineas told him.

"Hello, sir. Great honor to meet you," Mac greeted.

"Likewise. Why the hell are you here?" Wilson asked.

"Well, I was sort of told about your plan to break out Adrian Toomes and kill Spider-Man."

"You were told what?!" Wilson shouted.

"I told him because I think he could be a worthy opponent for Spider-Man," Phineas confessed.

"Does he have any kind of special abilities?"

"Well, did you hear about the recent scorpion serum testing?"

Wilson looked at Mac, knowing that he was involved in that. "You're the son of a bitch that volunteered to test it?"

"Yes, sir," Mac nodded.

"Good for you. Very gutsy for someone to do that," Fisk commended.

"Thank you, sir."

"Mr. Fisk, I just finished building this suit for him," Phineas said, motioning to the suit on the table.

The suit was a heavily-armored dark green battlesuit made of steel, and a 7ft. mechanical tail was attached to it.

"I think you both will really like this. I specifically built this suit so Mac can be a worthy opponent of Spider-Man. Mac, because of the serum, you have similar qualities that Spider-Man has, am I correct?"

Mac nodded. "I've noticed that I'm much more stronger, faster, agile."

"Great," Phineas responded. "Well, with this suit, not only will your new skills come in handy, but you will be able to climb walls like Spider-Man, something Kraven couldn't do."

Mac's eyebrows raised, amazed at what this suit could do. He couldn't wait to wear it and defeat Spider-Man. Although the bounty was still on Spider-Man's head, nobody else had attempted to kill the hero after the Kraven incident. With the Scorpion armor, however, Mac actually stood a chance.

"The best part of the suit is the tail. It whips up to 90 miles per hour, which will greatly benefit you in combat. I also added a spike to the tip of it to greater harm your enemies," Phineas added.

Mac's excited smile grew wider. "This is amazing, Phineas."

"If I may interject," Wilson interrupted. "Defeating Spider-Man is your first mission. Breaking out Adrian Toomes is your second. And remember one thing: don't show that arachnid any mercy. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, sir," Mac responded.

* * *

Peter and Harry were walking through the hallway, and it was a busy week for mostly everyone. Finals week was always the stressful time of the school year, but not for Peter, as his genius intellect usually guaranteed perfect final scores.

For Harry, it was a different story. Although he lacked Peter's brain, he was still a really smart guy, but it wasn't usually enough for him to stop worrying about how he'd do.

"Oh my God, dude, Chem is gonna kick my ass," Harry worried.

"Don't worry, man. It'll be fine," Peter assured him.

Harry scoffed. "Easy for you to say. Listen, I gotta ask. Are you gonna take Flash's threat seriously?

"I don't really know. As much as I hate the guy, I don't want to ruin Liz's relationship."

"But, dude, Liz deserves much better. I'm pretty sure you agreed."

"Yeah, but-"

Peter's Spider-Sense started tingling at that moment. It told him that something was coming towards his head. That something was a football. His sense was telling him to move his head. Peter could've easily dodged the football or grabbed it, but to evade suspicion, he begrudgingly took the hit.

"Looks like your head really is a football magnet," Flash joked, coming up and slapping Peter on the back of the head.

Harry glared at Flash. "Get the hell out of here, Flash."

"Make me, Richie Rich. Puny Parker and I have some unfinished business to settle."

"I don't think so," Peter dismissed as he tried to walk away.

Flash grabbed the back of Peter's collar and pulled him aside. Some of the students stopped walking to see what was going on. More importantly, they wanted to see if Peter would once again kick Flash's ass.

"You know, I could've kicked your ass by now if I wanted to," Peter spitefully pointed out.

Although he knew Peter was right, Flash tried to sound as threatening as he could. "Shut up, bookworm. If I ever see you talking to my girl again, then you're gonna regret you were ever born."

Peter just laughed at Flash's threat. It wasn't like the jock could hurt him.

"Let him go, Flash!"

Peter and Flash turned to see Liz, and the glare on her face genuinely frightened the two of them for a moment.

"Babe, it's alright here!" Flash started. "Look, let's just-"

Liz grabbed Flash's arm and dragged him outside. Peter, Harry, and the other students looked outside to try and see what was going on. Although they couldn't hear what the couple was saying, it was clear to everyone that the two were arguing.

"She's probably gonna dump him," Peter predicted.

"Maybe," Harry agreed.

"I don't know about that," a student disagreed.

"They've been going out for a year now, and they're too happy together," another student said.

Everyone witnessed Liz yelling at Flash. After that, Liz walked off, and Flash started throwing a fit of rage outside.

"They did," Peter and Harry said at the same time.

Flash's face turned red once he realized the other students had witnessed the entire thing. His face went further red once he eyed Peter.

"This is the part where we run," Harry told Peter in a calm manner.

Peter and Harry ran off before Flash could catch up to them. Wisely, the other students did the same thing as well.

* * *

Ever since Liz had broken up with Flash, she didn't really feel any remorse or sadness. If she was gonna be honest with herself, she never really felt anything truly real with Flash to begin with. He was an immature bully, and he didn't deserve to date another girl until he changed for the better.

Although she didn't really feel anything romantic for Peter, he was undeniably a fun guy to be around. She definitely enjoyed being around Peter more than she did around Flash. Peter was a better listener, as he seemed to understand Liz more than Flash ever did.

Just to hang out, Liz had texted Peter, inviting him for coffee. Peter quickly responded, accepting her offer.

Excited, Peter ran out of school to prepare for his date with Liz.

"Hey, freak!" Flash shouted as he ran over to Peter. "You cost me my girl!"

Flash tried to tackle Peter, only for Peter to push him away, knocking him to the ground. Peter didn't even care, as he was too excited for his coffee date. Plus, Flash had done worse things to him in the past.

Peter's phone went off, and he picked up.

"Hey, Aunt May...Actually, I'll be home at around 8 or so...Why? Got a date...Look, I'll tell you all about it when I get home. I gotta get ready," Peter quickly explained to Aunt May.

Eventually, Peter made it into the city, running as fast as he could. Much to his dismay, police sirens were heard. Peter looked to the direction of the sounds and saw two police cars pursuing a getaway truck.

"Damn it!" Peter exclaimed.

Peter ran into an alley, and less than a minute later, Spider-Man swung towards the truck. Excited civilians started recording the incident.

Spider-Man landed on the truck and dodged bullets that shot through the roof. He then climbed onto the front of the truck.

"You guys are really screwing up my plans," Spider-Man annoyingly said as he ripped the steering wheel off the truck.

The truck swerved and fell onto its side, and Spider-Man quickly jumped back onto the ground. Two injured armed men crawled out of the truck, only to collapse, unconscious. Another armed man came out and started shooting at Spider-Man with a machine gun. Spider-Man jumped out of the way to dodge the bullets until the police cars caught up. Four cops came out of the cruisers and aimed their guns at the man.

"Freeze! NYPD!" one of the cops shouted.

The man started shooting at the cops, who took cover behind the cars. Spider-Man quickly snuck up behind the man and threw him across the street. Before the cops could threaten Spider-Man as usual, two more armed men came out of the truck.

"Jesus, how many of there are you?!" Spider-Man shouted in frustration and disbelief.

One of the armed men opened fire on the cops while the other one started shooting at Spider-Man, who easily dodged all the bullets. The cops started shooting back, and a firefight ensued.

"AHHH!"

A cop was hit in the shoulder by a bullet, and he fell to the ground.

"Oh, no!" Spider-Man panicked as he jumped onto the first armed man, knocking him down.

Spider-Man then shot a web at the second armed man's gun and pulled upwards, causing the gun to hit the man in the chin. The man stumbled back, and Spider-Man jumped over and punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

"Are you okay?" Spider-Man quickly asked as he ran over to the wounded cop.

Instead of answering, the cop continued groaning in pain as he clutched his bloody shoulder. Spider-Man moved the cop's hand and covered the wound with a web.

"I'm gonna get you to the hospital," Spider-Man assured him as he grabbed the cop and swung away.

* * *

At the coffee shop, Liz kept checking her phone for missed texts or calls from Peter but didn't receive any. Angry, Liz felt that she was stood up and Peter wasn't gonna show, so she grabbed her bag and stood up until she saw Peter run in.

"Liz! Liz, I'm so sorry I'm late. If you'll just let me explain-"

"Forget it, Peter. I get it. You don't like me. Which is a real shame considering I was really starting to like you," Liz said, hurt.

"But I do like you, Liz. I do," Peter assured her.

"If you did, you would have been here on time. You made me feel like an idiot sitting here for over an hour waiting for you to show."

"Liz, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention."

"Whatever, Peter," Liz replied angrily before walking out.

"Liz…"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: A sad Christmas for Peter and his loved ones.**


	10. Christmas Blues

**Chapter 10: Christmas Blues**

The students of Midtown High were officially on winter break, which meant two weeks off to celebrate the holidays and the upcoming new year. It was a few days before Christmas, and Peter and Valeria were hanging out at a local coffee shop.

"So, what are you doing during the holidays?" Peter asked.

"Nothin' really. With my dad in jail, I'm not spending Christmas with him, especially not in a prison," Valeria said sadly.

"I understand. So, what are you gonna do for Christmas?"

"Probably just hang out at home. Every place nearby is closed."

"Well, my aunt is making Christmas dinner at my house. It'll just be me, her, and Harry. You should come over," Peter invited.

"Really? I won't be intruding?"

"Of course not. No one should be alone during the holidays."

That comment made Valeria sad, not because she knew Peter was right, but because she knew her father would be alone on Christmas. As angry as she was about what her father had done, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was the man that had raised her nearly her whole life, and although he did horrible things for her, she couldn't ever forget the good things he did.

Wanting relief and not wanting to think about her heartbreak, Valeria agreed to go.

"Alright, I'll come," Valeria accepted. "Thanks, Pete."

"No problem."

* * *

On the morning of Christmas Day, Peter and Aunt May were downstairs in the living room, where presents were waiting under the Christmas tree.

"Here you go, Aunt May," Peter said, handing a present to her. "Present number one."

Aunt May opened her first gift to find a $50 gift card to her favorite Italian restaurant.

Aunt May smiled. "Peter, this is great. Thank you"

"You're welcome. You're gonna love the second one even more," Peter proudly stated.

Aunt May opened the second gift to find a scrapbook inside. She skimmed through it to find pictures from when Peter first started living with them, to family photos with Uncle Ben that showcased Peter's life with his aunt and uncle.

"Peter, this is absolutely wonderful. Brings back great memories. I'm very proud of the young man you've grown up to be, and I know Ben would be, too," Aunt May delightfully said.

"Thanks, Aunt May."

"Well, looks like it's your turn now, Peter. You're in for a surprise."

Peter opened his first present and was shocked to find a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II inside.

"A new camera? May, you shouldn't have!" Peter exclaimed, genuinely shocked.

"It's fine, Peter! I've been working extra shifts at the office, so it was enough. Plus, you needed to replace that camera of yours anyways. How did your old camera break again?"

"Uh...I dropped it."

Truthfully, Peter had accidentally broken it during a battle with thugs a few days before.

"May, I don't know what to say."

"Maybe a thank you," Aunt May chuckled.

"Thank you," Peter responded.

Peter opened the second gift, only to be even more shocked by what he saw.

"A new microscope? May, I seriously can't believe this. Thank you so much."

Peter hugged his aunt.

"Right back at you," Aunt May warmly responded. "Even though it's our first Christmas without your uncle, all of this truly makes me feel better."

"I'm glad, May."

* * *

While Peter and Harry were waiting at the table, the doorbell rang.

"That must be Valeria," Peter said as Aunt May went to answer the door.

"Hi, I'm Valeria!" Valeria introduced. "You must be Aunt May! I've heard so much about you!"

Valeria hugged Aunt May.

"Likewise, Valeria. Very nice to meet you," Aunt May greeted.

Valeria hugged Peter. "Hi, Pete."

"Hey, Valeria. Glad you could make it."

Peter guided her to the dinner table. Once Harry spotted Valeria, he stood up to greet her.

"Valeria, you made it!" Harry said as he hugged Valeria.

"How's it going, Harry?"

Harry shrugged. "Okay. Dad's too busy with work to celebrate Christmas."

"And my dad's in prison. Peter Parker, providing great Christmases for friends without dads to celebrate with them since late 2016!" Valeria joked.

The three friends laughed. At that moment, Aunt May pulled the turkey out of the oven.

"Alright kids, Christmas dinner is ready!" Aunt May announced.

Peter and Aunt May put the dinner on the table. The delicious dinner consisted of turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables such as carrots, turnip, and creamed spinach.

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Aunt May happily told the teens. "Enjoy your dinner."

The four of them started helping themselves to the food.

"Aunt May, this is amazing!" Harry complimented, with his mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"Yeah, it is," Valeria agreed.

"Why, thank you!" Aunt May thanked.

Peter took a bite of the turkey. "Your meals get better and better every year, Aunt May."

"Thank you, Peter," Aunt May replied gratefully.

"I'd actually like to say something if you guys wouldn't mind," Peter announced as he stood up.

They all waited for him to speak.

"This is a tough Christmas for all of us. I don't have an uncle, Aunt May doesn't have a husband, Valeria's dad is...away. And Harry's dad can't commit to anything. I don't mean to bring up any bad memories for any of us, but I'm really glad we can all be here tonight and celebrate such an amazing holiday. Family is the most important thing in the world, whether family is just friends or not. The fact that we can put aside our emotions for this day just makes us that much stronger."

"Well said, Pete," Harry praised, clapping.

"I agree," Aunt May replied.

Valeria was too sad to respond. All she could think about was her dad sitting in his cell, all alone, with no one there to celebrate Christmas with him. As angry as she was, she felt so guilty and sad for him. But she didn't want to be rude and leave so early.

However, during the meal, Valeria couldn't stop thinking about how her father felt about being alone for Christmas. She decided to take Peter's words to heart and put aside her emotions. She needed to see her dad. Valeria stood up from her seat, and everyone looked at her.

"Is everything okay, Valeria?" Aunt May asked.

"I'm sorry, everyone, but I have to go. Thank you for the meal and for having me," Valeria said before rushing out.

Confused, Peter chased after her.

"Valeria, wait!"

Valeria stopped and turned around.

"Why are you leaving?"

"I have to see my dad."

"I thought you didn't want to see him again," Peter mentioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I know, but this is such an important day, for my dad and I. Some of our best memories were during the holidays, and even though I'm mad at him, I can't let him sit in a cell celebrating Christmas by himself. I don't want to live the rest of my life filled with regret if I don't see him, whether this is the last time I see him or not."

Peter nodded. "I understand. You should go."

Valeria smiled. "Thanks, Pete." She hugged him and left.

Peter went back inside to continue celebrating the holiday.

* * *

Adrian was sitting in his cell, alone, and wishing that he could be free to be with his daughter. He was filled with so much regret after Valeria said she no longer wished to see him. Christmas had been a favorite day of his, especially after his divorce, because that meant him and Valeria could be much closer on that day. And that meant the world to the both of them. He wished he could see her one last time.

"Toomes! You have a visitor!" a guard shouted.

"Send 'em in," Adrian responded.

Valeria walked in, and when Adrian saw her, he couldn't believe his eyes. He was actually seeing his daughter again. It wasn't a dream.

Adrian stood up in shock. "Valeria. Hi."

"Hi, Dad," Valeria smiled. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too, sweetheart. Can I give you a hug?"

A tear rolling down her cheek, Valeria nodded and hugged her father like she hadn't seen him in years. They were both filled with so much emotion in that very moment.

"How are you doing?" Valeria asked as she pulled away.

"Great now that you're here. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too."

"Listen, when I saw you last, I didn't lie to you. I really did try everything I could to protect you. But after Oscorp, I couldn't get a job that paid as good as that one. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to support you, and I couldn't bear to see how you'd feel if we were on the streets," Adrian rambled.

"I know, Dad. I understand. It doesn't mean I can condone it or forgive you for it, but I understand. I just want to move past this."

"Me, too. But I have to ask. What made you come here today?"

"I didn't want you to celebrate Christmas alone. I know how important the holiday is to you," Valeria confessed.

"To be honest, it was only so important to me because it meant you and I were celebrating together. That's one of the reasons why I'm glad your mother left us. That just meant we could become closer. You used to be so close to your mother, and I always wished you and I were closer. Granted, this isn't the way I wanted to bond, but I'll take that any day over having you in another state," Adrian told her.

"Same here. New York is my home. I couldn't leave this place."

"Pretty soon, you'll be graduating, and you'll be off wherever. And I might never see you again. You see, I still don't know how long I'll be in here because the trial keeps getting delayed."

"I know. I've been paying attention to the news," Valeria said.

"I'll be out eventually. Don't you worry," Adrian promised.

* * *

Peter and Harry were walking at a park. They had finished their dinner with Aunt May and decided to get some air. The snow was getting everywhere, so Peter and Harry were both dressed in thick clothing.

"You know, I never thought I'd see the day where Valeria Toomes, one of the hottest girls at school, would come over to your house on Christmas," Harry admitted.

Peter chuckled. "Neither did I."

"And I have to say, Valeria's dad being the Vulture? I didn't see that coming."

"Neither did I."

"It's nice to have a dad who cares," Harry sighed.

Peter's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Look, I'm not trying to justify what Valeria's dad did for her, I'm really not. He did a bunch of terrible things, but at least he did it for her," Harry explained.

"He killed all those people at Specter," Peter argued. "He robbed several places. He nearly killed your dad, Harry!"

"That I'll never forgive him for. Maybe if I was closer with my dad, I'd probably be a little more mad, but I can't help but ask myself, what would I have done if I were put in his position? It's just like you said, Peter. Family is everything, isn't it?"

A chill went down Peter's spine as Harry said that. It was no doubt true that Vulture had done horrible things, but as Harry pointed out, Peter himself had said family was everything. His entire life, Peter had been taught to look out for his family first and do anything for them, but would that include crossing the line and doing heinous things? Was Peter willing to harm someone to help his family? For now, the answer was no, but what if something worse happened to him in the future? Surely, a hero like Peter wouldn't ever go down that path. Especially after what happened to Uncle Ben, he couldn't.

"But what if your father had been killed by the Vulture?" Peter questioned. "What would you have done?"

Harry looked up at the sky, thinking about his answer.

"For now, the only thing I can say is, if anyone ever took my family away from me, I'd make them pay."

* * *

"Mac, I'm done!" Phineas shouted.

In their warehouse, Phineas had just finished the final upgrades to the Scorpion armor. Gargan was sitting on a foldable chair nearby, reading a newspaper. Inside the warehouse were also Wilson Fisk and some of his men, curious on how the armor would turn out.

"Excellent," Mac excitedly stated, throwing his newspaper aside.

Mac had been a soldier of the Royal Marines for a decade and had seen some pretty nasty stuff unfold. The most trauma he had ever experienced was in the war zone of Afghanistan for two years. He had seen friends die, and it only resulted in more anger at the world. Once the government issued a secret experiment known as the Scorpion program, Mac was instantly intrigued. He discovered that the program's intention was to genetically enhance a human's ability to one of a powerful scorpion with superhuman abilities. It was essentially the test to make a powerful soldier. Wanting to make a difference, Mac volunteered.

However, after taking the scorpion serum, the results were catastrophic. The experiment didn't go as planned, and Mac went ballistic. As a result of destroying government property and killing several agents, Mac was dishonorably discharged. He fled, and since then, Mac had been living on the streets.

At some point recently, Phineas had hacked into the government's files to find useful information for potential men to kill Spider-Man, and he happened to stumble upon Mac's file. Tracking him down, Phineas offered the proposition for Mac in exchange for the prize money from Fisk's bounty. Without thinking, Mac agreed.

And right now, Mac's new and improved Scorpion armor was complete, and he was more than ready to test it out.

Phineas helped Mac put the Scorpion armor on, and they were both amazed.

"It's heavy, but it feels good," Mac commented.

"Give it a try," Phineas suggested. "The reinforced steel armor has an A.I. that utilizes the scorpion serum throughout your body.

Scorpion rammed his fist through the table, smashing it in half.

"What else can I do?" Mac wondered.

At that moment, every part of Mac's body started to hurt in agonizing pain. He collapsed to his knees, groaning and struggling to get up, and his eyes closed.

"Mac!" Phineas shouted.

Phineas tried to examine the armor while one of Fisk's men ran over to calm Mac down.

"I don't get it. The intelligence protocol should be helping you manifest your body, but why is it hurting you?" Mason pointed out, confused.

Through the armor's yellow glass lenses, Mac's eyes opened again, and he punched the man, sending him into the door of the warehouse.

Panicking, Fisk's five other men pulled out their guns and started shooting at Mac.

"Hold your fire, you idiots!" Fisk yelled.

Scorpion jumped over to one of the men and threw him at another one, knocking him down. The bullets continued coming, but they simply didn't do any damage.

"Shit!" one of the men yelled, trying to run away.

Scorpion ran over to the man and snapped his neck, killing him. Scorpion grabbed another man's gun and bashed him over the head with it, knocking him down. The two men from earlier got back up and tried to flee, only for Scorpion to jump over and slam one of them to the ground. Before the other man could run, Scorpion's tail impaled right through the man's chest, killing him.

During the massacre, Fisk and Phineas had taken the chance to flee the warehouse. Scorpion dropped back to the ground, trying his best to control his armor, particularly the tail.

"AHHHHH!"

Scorpion punched the ground in frustration. Slowly getting back up, he calmly swung his tail, controlling his abilities.

"Looks like it's successful," Fisk concluded as he and Phineas walked back inside.

"Then, it's time for him to start his objectives," Phineas added.

Fisk nodded. "Indeed. Gargan, tomorrow, you will kill Spider-Man, and then you'll get your money. After that, you will break Adrian Toomes out of prison."

Scorpion sadistically smiled. "Merry Christmas, Spider-Man."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man and Scorpion battle it out.**


	11. Stung by a Scorpion

**Chapter 11: Stung by a Scorpion**

It was two days before New Year's Eve, and Peter's friendship with Valeria had been growing stronger since he first approached her at lunch, and he felt proud.

Although, as much as he hated to admit it, he still felt some guilt for putting her dad in prison. While it was worth noting that Adrian had committed terrible crimes, Peter still took her father away from her.

On the beautiful snowy day, Peter and Valeria had decided to go out and get hot cocoa at their usual coffee shop.

"Still a week left before hell," Valeria joked over her steaming cup of cocoa.

"Yeah. Not looking forward to it," Peter chuckled before taking a sip of his cup.

"So, I heard you're the big perpetrator behind Liz's break-up with Flash."

Peter shrugged. "I guess."

"So, what's the big story behind it?"

"Well, Liz asked me to tutor her in Chemistry, so I did. Flash got all jealous that I was 'seeing his girl,' and he threatened to dump Liz. Then, he started acting like a bigger jerk to me. Liz was _not_ happy about it."

Valeria's eyes widened. "Ouch. Have you seen him since?"

"I was avoiding him as much as I could, but after he tried to beat me up, I pushed him down," Peter admitted.

"Holy shit! You took down Flash Thompson two times? Jesus, Peter, how do you get the muscle for that?" Valeria asked, genuinely shocked.

"Working out, eating my green vegetables," Peter lied.

Valeria laughed. "You know, Pete, you're definitely not the guy I expected at all."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, pretending he didn't know what she was talking about.

Valeria smiled. "Well, you know, I'm with the big crowd at school, and I've got a lot of great people to party and get drunk with, but we've only been friends because of those reasons. A majority of them don't seem to truly understand me. Not the way you do."

"I'm not like other guys. I'm not like those guys at school who just do drugs and focus more on their social status. I'm just a person who wants to do good things for people. For the world."

"That's what I admire about you."

Peter blushed. "Really?"

"Yeah, Pete. You're a great guy. Don't let that idiot Flash convince you otherwise."

Valeria walked over to Peter, put her arm around him, and aimed her hand at the windows outside the store.

"See that, Pete? New York. Over eight million people live here. Sure, there are some dumbasses like Flash who won't appreciate you, but you're a freakin' genius, Peter! You're gonna do great things in the future. While other people will just be working regular jobs, you're gonna be the next Einstein. You'll be studying and discovering things we didn't even know was possible! With all this genius, you're capable of anything."

"My Uncle Ben used to tell me the same thing," Peter said sadly.

"Oh, Pete, I'm so sorry-"

"No, no, it's fine," Peter insisted. "One night, he told me that my choices would always impact my future, that I had the potential to become what my dad was. The last thing I ever heard him say was, 'With great power, there must also come great responsibility.' Later that night, I found him dying on the street. I've regretted neglecting his advice every day since then."

"But you're not neglecting his advice. I don't see how you haven't been responsible since he died."

"Really, because I screwed up a date with Liz."

"What do you mean?" Valeria asked.

"She asked me out, and I showed up too late," Peter confessed.

"What happened?"

"Uh...I got caught up in traffic," Peter lied.

"How? You don't have your license."

"I took the train," Peter countered.

"The train got caught in traffic?" Valeria chuckled with an amused look on her face.

"I meant bus."

"Jesus, you are truly a man of mystery, Peter Parker."

They both chuckled, but Peter's joyous expression instantly turned into one of fear. His Spider-Sense was tingling, but what kind of danger could be around?

Valeria looked concerned. "Pete, are you alright? You're pale."

"I have to go. I'll be right back," Peter told her before running outside.

Outside the coffee shop, Peter smelled smoke and ashes.

BOOM!

Peter nearly fell to the ground but looked to his right to see fire and debris everywhere. Inside the coffee shop, the customers, including Valeria, ran over to the windows to see what was going on.

"PETER!" Valeria yelled. "Are you out of your mind?"

Before she could run out to talk some sense into Peter, Scorpion jumped down from a building and grabbed Peter in a chokehold.

"So, according to the papers, I hear that you're the one who's been taking the pictures of Spider-Man," Scorpion said in a sinister manner.

Valeria tried to run outside, only for the customers to hold her back.

"Yeah. How the hell did you know what I looked like?" Peter spat.

"Wilson Fisk has his resources. You better find your friend Spider-Man and tell him that I want to meet him. If you don't, I'll be _really_ unhappy."

"Okay, okay, please! Just let me go!" Peter pleaded, feigning fear.

Scorpion evilly laughed and threw Peter at the ground, prompting the customers inside to gasp.

"You better find him fast!" Scorpion warned. "Or more people will die."

Scorpion jumped away, seeking to cause more damage. Valeria ran outside and helped Peter up.

"Peter, are you okay? You could've been killed!" Valeria yelled.

"I'm fine. I just gotta find Spider-Man," Peter said, trying to run off.

Valeria grabbed Peter's arm.

"Peter, you can't! Just call the cops or something! If you do get Spider-Man, who's to say that Scorpion won't kill you regardless?"

"Valeria!" Peter protested. "Did you just see that guy? He's the most dangerous thing in New York right now, and I can't let other innocent people die!"

"But you'll get kil-"

"It doesn't matter! This city needs Spider-Man now. I have to do this," Peter declared, removing his hand from Valeria's.

Peter ran as fast as he could, but that didn't stop Valeria from following him. Peter ran into an alley, and it took Valeria ten seconds to catch up. Once she ran in, Peter was gone.

* * *

On top of a building, Peter was putting his mask on and was already dressed in the rest of his costume.

"I'm gonna die," Spider-Man negatively told himself.

Spotting Scorpion trashing another car on the street, Spider-Man sighed.

He shot a web and swung down. Lunging at Scorpion, the menace turned around at the last second and swung his tail into Spider-Man, knocking him to the ground.

"Nice try, Spider-Man. But I'm too fast and strong for you."

"We'll see about that," Spider-Man snarled, getting back up.

Scorpion swung his tail again, sending Spider-Man into a building. Spider-Man jumped out and shot some web pellets at Scorpion, though he dodged them.

Scorpion ran over to Spider-Man, who jumped over him, and Scorpion accidentally smashed himself into a brick wall. Furious, Scorpion grabbed a piece of the ground and threw it at Spider-Man, who stepped aside to dodge it, but he got hit by a second piece, knocking him back.

"Is that enough proof, Spider?" Scorpion mocked.

Spider-Man ran over to Scorpion and dodged his swinging tail multiple times. He grabbed the tail and threw Scorpion at a damaged car. Scorpion grabbed the car and threw it at Spider-Man, who jumped over it.

Scorpion tackled Spider-Man to the ground and started punching him in the face. Spider-Man kicked Scorpion off and threw some punches, which Scorpion continuously deflected.

From a distance, Valeria and a few civilians were witnessing the fight. A look of worry was on Valeria's face. Parts of Spider-Man's costume were torn, revealing his wounds.

"You'll never win," Spider-Man angrily assured Scorpion.

"We'll see about that."

Spider-Man shot webs at two tables behind Scorpion and smashed them into his back, distracting him. Spider-Man shot another web at Scorpion and swung over at him, only for Scorpion to grab Spider-Man and throw him at a building.

Spider-Man quickly stuck to the side of the building, but Scorpion started climbing up as well. Wanting to take the fight away from the ground, Spider-Man started climbing up to the top of the building with Scorpion on his tail.

Scorpion caught up to Spider-Man and grabbed his leg, smashing him against the building, leaving holes in the cement and causing debris to fall.

Groaning, Spider-Man kicked Scorpion off him, knocking him back down to the ground. Spider-Man jumped back down to the ground and started punching Scorpion repeatedly until Scorpion's tail flung him into a pillar.

Several civilians started running, including Valeria.

As Spider-Man was knocked into the pillar, it started to crumble, and rubble started to cover the ground. A huge block of marble from the pillar fell onto Valeria's leg while she was running, causing her to trip and fall, trapped under the marble. Scorpion then walked over and threw Spider-Man to the side.

"AHHHHHH!" Valeria screamed in agonizing pain.

"Valeria!" Spider-Man shouted before starting to run to her.

As Spider-Man was rushing towards her, Scorpion lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. Scorpion started throwing heavy punches, but Spider-Man was unable to dodge them. When Scorpion felt that Spider-Man had been pummeled enough, he got the spike on his tail ready, prepared to kill Spider-Man.

"Looks like you've met your match, Spider-Man," Scorpion said as he aimed the spike at him.

* * *

 **To be continued...**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Peter's life changes drastically, and Vulture finally returns.**

 **Any predictions on what will happen in the last 2 chapters of Vol. 1?**


	12. Irresponsible

**Chapter 12: Irresponsible**

As Scorpion plunged the spike down, Spider-Man shot a web at it and punched Scorpion in the face, stumbling him back. Spider-Man jumped up and continued punching him until Scorpion fell down onto the ground. Scorpion swung his tail into Spider-Man and sent him flying.

As Spider-Man was flung into the air, more rubble started to fall on Valeria, covering most of her body. Spider-Man noticed this, shot a web at a building, and started to swing back. Scorpion jumped and slammed into Spider-Man mid-air, knocking him down. Spider-Man ran after Valeria, only for Scorpion to pin him down.

"Let go of me!" Spider-Man yelled in fury and desperation. "I need to help her!"

Spider-Man struggled to get out of Scorpion's grip, as the villain was too strong. At that moment, another huge piece of debris fell on the pile on Valeria, prompting Spider-Man to panic more.

"NOOOO!"

Spider-Man punched Scorpion in the face with all his might, knocking him into a small brick wall. The glass on Scorpion's left eye lens was also shattered. Before Scorpion could get back up, Spider-Man used his web to pull the wall down onto Scorpion.

Spider-Man then ran over to the debris and started pulling it off. After pulling the last piece off, Spider-Man found Valeria. Her face was bruised, and there was blood on her forehead. It wasn't a surprise that she was barely conscious.

"Spider-Man..." Valeria groaned.

"Valeria, stay with me! Come on, please, you have to!" Spider-Man begged.

Scorpion burst through the pile of bricks, ready to continue fighting. Spider-Man, on the other hand, wasn't.

"You're gonna die, bug!" Scorpion viciously growled.

Scorpion charged at Spider-Man.

"You're gonna pay!" Spider-Man shouted as he grabbed Scorpion's sides.

After punching Scorpion in the stomach and kicking him in the face, Spider-Man grabbed Scorpion's tail, and with all his rage and despair piling in, ripped it right off.

"You son of a bitch!" Scorpion shouted.

Spider-Man grabbed Scorpion and smashed him face-first into the snowy ground, knocking him out cold.

After that was settled, Spider-Man ran back to Valeria. Carrying her, Spider-Man knew he barely had any time.

"Okay, I promise I'm gonna get you to the nearest hospital. It'll-"

"No!" Valeria requested. "No hospital. Take me somewhere private."

"But-"

"I'm done already," Valeria coughed. "There's no point. Just take me somewhere private."

Honoring her request, Spider-Man swung into an isolated area. Holding onto her, Spider-Man didn't know what else to do.

"Valeria, I'm so sorry…" Spider-Man choked up.

"How do you know my name?"

Knowing he made a mistake, Peter decided to tell her the truth. For the first time ever in front of anyone, he pulled off his mask, revealing his true identity to her.

"Peter…" Valeria trailed off, shocked and out of breath.

"Valeria, I'm so sorry I put your dad in jail. I couldn't save you, I-" Peter apologized.

"Peter, none of that matters to me anymore. You did the right thing."

"I took your family away from you..."

"Peter, it's just like what you said on Christmas. Family isn't just blood. They're your friends, too. And I'm glad you're my family in the end…" Valeria reminded.

A few tears went down Peter's face.

"In the end, I made true friends. Thank you, Peter."

Valeria took one last breath and closed her eyes, dying in Peter's arms.

"No! Valeria, please!"

Peter looked everywhere. No one in sight to help. Wiping the tears off his face, Peter knew only one thing at that point.

No matter what he did or how hard he tried, everyone involved in Valeria's death would pay.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Peter, a _Daily Bugle_ reporter had been present around the time the fight between Spider-Man and Scorpion had occurred. This was confirmed after photos of the fight were anonymously sent to Jameson's office.

Peter, Ned, Betty, and Robbie were in Jameson's office, trying to think of who could've sent the photos. While that was happening, Jameson was ranting about the situation.

"Fire, debris, death everywhere! In the goddamn winter!" Jameson vented. "Not only is that Scorpion thing on the loose, but he caused a lot of damage to the city and killed that poor girl. And it's all Spider-Man's fault!"

Peter's eyes widened, but he chose to restrain himself, as it would cause more problems.

"You cannot be serious," Betty protested.

"It was the Scorpion's fault!" Ned added.

"I'd have to agree with Ned and Betty," Robbie admitted. "Scorpion _is_ the one who started causing destruction in the first place, and Spider-Man was just trying to stop him!"

"Well, he didn't do a very good job, did he?! If Spider-Man were smart, he would've taken the fight away from the city to avoid further damage!"

Peter did his best to keep his mouth shut.

"If not for him and his criminal activities, Scorpion never would've gone looking for him in the first place!"

Peter still didn't say a word.

"Plus, if he were strong enough, he would've been able to save that girl!"

And that was the last straw.

He was furious about Jameson blaming him for Valeria's death and the destruction, and that also included him always defaming Spider-Man in front of the city.

"Are you kidding me?! Spider-Man has done nothing but good things for New York, and all you do is try and sabotage him as much as you can in the paper!"

"Peter, calm down!" Betty gasped, grabbing Peter's arm.

Shaking her arm off, Peter continued. "He did his best to stop Scorpion! Spider-Man's not the one at fault here! All he wants to do is save everyone he can and do the _responsible_ thing! Why can't you understand that?!"

Ned, Betty, Robbie, and almost everyone in the office stared at Peter with shocked expressions. Even Jameson looked surprised. Nobody had the guts to shout at Jameson or call him out, so Peter was a first.

"Pete," Ned started. "Are you-"

Overwhelmed with everything that was happening, Peter stormed out of Jameson's office.

* * *

Adrian was lying in his prison cell, thinking about Valeria. He hoped she would come visit him again soon, but he didn't know if she would. He hadn't heard from her since Christmas. He saw a guard walk up to his cell, and he sat up.

"Toomes…"

"Yes, sir?"

"I have some bad news for you. Follow me to the interrogation room," the guard told him as he opened his cell door and escorted him to the room. "Have a seat."

Adrian sat down and waited to hear the bad news, worried about what he was going to hear.

"There's been an accident...involving your daughter."

"What happened?" Adrian asked.

"There was a fight...between Spider-Man and Scorpion. Lots of destruction."

"Is she okay?" Adrian asked.

"I'm sorry, Adrian. She didn't make it. She was crushed by the rubble."

Adrian looked down and started crying.

"Listen, since you've been on good behavior, we will allow you to attend the funeral, which is a few days after the new year."

"You trust me enough to attend a funeral?" Adrian questioned. "You don't think I'll run off?"

"That's why there will be guards present."

Adrian nodded, feeling grateful that he could say goodbye to his daughter one last time. "Thank you."

* * *

Valeria Toomes' funeral was held during the first week of the new year. The attendees were made up of Valeria's mother Doris and family, friends, and Midtown students, including Peter, Harry, and Liz. Even Flash showed up. Peter and Harry weren't ashamed to shed some tears, as they weren't the only ones. Valeria's other friends were crying as well, and so was Doris, who gave a speech. Adrian was there as well, but two guards were standing next to him.

"I left my beautiful daughter when she was only a little girl. That's a regret I'm gonna have for the rest of my life. I should've been there for her after her father was sent to prison. And I wasn't. I'll never forget the amazing times we had when she was only a little girl."

Doris Toomes' brown hair and blue eyes greatly resembled Valeria's, and it made Peter feel worse as he was constantly reminded of his role in her death.

"Overall, this is a message for every one of you," Doris said with tears in her eyes. "Don't ever wait until it's too late to tell someone you love them. You never know if it'll be your last chance."

Doris walked back into the crowd. Liz walked over to Peter and hugged him.

"Pete, I know you were really good friends with her. I'm so sorry," Liz apologized through wet eyes.

"Thank you," Peter sighed.

"I also want to apologize about our date. I overreacted about the whole thing."

"No, you didn't. You were right for how you acted," Peter assured her.

"But you didn't deserve it. You were so kind to me about Flash, and I didn't give you enough of a chance."

"It's okay, Liz. Really," Peter promised.

Peter suddenly became nervous when he saw Valeria's dad, his nemesis, walking towards him. Guards were accompanying him.

When Liz saw Adrian, she walked away to avoid being near him.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," Adrian admitted. "How well did you know her?"

"P-Pretty well," Peter said nervously. He had never been near Adrian when he wasn't the Vulture.

"What's your name?" Adrian asked.

"Peter. Parker."

"Nice to meet you, Peter. Thanks for being there for my daughter," Adrian said, extending his hand.

"You're welcome, sir," Peter said, shaking his hand.

Peter felt so uncomfortable. He had watched the daughter of his nemesis die in his arms and felt so awkward talking to him. He was afraid that Adrian would be suspicious and recognize Peter.

"You look familiar. Where have I seen you before?" Adrian wondered.

Damn. Now, Peter's fears were coming true.

"Um...I don't know. Maybe at the school?"

"No, I feel like I've seen you from somewhere else." Adrian thought about it and remembered where he had seen Peter. "I remember you. You were at that field trip at Oscorp...when I was fired."

Peter cleared his throat. "Th-That could be."

"No, I'm sure of it. I remember seeing you look at me uncomfortably."

"It was just an awkward situation."

"You bet. Ruined my life. Especially because that Spider-Man got in my way."

"Okay, Adrian, that's enough. Time to go," one of the guards said.

The two guards escorted Adrian away from Peter while he looked back at the young teenager as he left, making Peter feel even more uncomfortable.

Peter had never felt this guilty since Uncle Ben died. He had promised himself that nobody else would die because of him. But he had failed Valeria and her family and friends. Worse, he had failed Uncle Ben. He had to accept something at that point.

If Peter was gonna be Spider-Man, the ones closest to his heart would always be the ones that would pay.

* * *

"Toomes! You got a visitor!"

Sighing, Adrian got up from his bed. It had been three days since Valeria's funeral, and Adrian was fully well-aware that he would never get over the loss of his only daughter and child.

The guard opened the cell door and escorted Adrian to a private room, where Wilson Fisk was waiting.

"Adrian."

"Wilson."

"I'm so sorry about Valeria."

"Thanks," Adrian said before sitting down in front of him.

"If you ever need anything, I'm here. Whatever you need."

"How about you start by telling me why the hell this Scorpion and that damn Spider-Man killed my daughter."

"It wasn't like that, Adrian."

"Then what was it like?!" Adrian shouted.

"If I recall, you wanted me to put a bounty on Spider-Man's head. So I hired different men for the job, but my engineer Phineas Mason found someone he thought was worthy for the job: MacDonald Gargan. Mason built the Scorpion armor for Gargan, and he went after Spider-Man. That's when the fight happened, and that's when…"

"Okay. So both of them need to die."

"And how is that gonna happen?" Fisk questioned.

"You're gonna get me out of here."

Fisk smiled. "Shouldn't be a problem."

* * *

Adrian was lying in his bed, anticipating what would happen.

BOOM!

An explosion was heard, and several of the other inmates started panicking. Guards started running towards the source of the sound.

"Freeze!"

"Drop the weapons now!"

"One more step, and I won't hesitate to shoot!"

Gunfire was heard. While the inmates either ducked or hid, Adrian simply smiled. After about a minute of the gunfight, four armed men ran in. The inmates started panicking even more, begging for their lives. However, one of the armed men took out a key and unlocked Adrian's cell. Adrian casually got up from his bed and walked over to the armed men.

"I assume Fisk is here to take me home." Adrian chuckled.

"That's right," one of the armed men responded.

Two of the armed men guarded Adrian while the others were on the lookout for other guards. Together, they fled the prison.

* * *

Inside his warehouse, Phineas Mason brought Adrian over to a table. On top of it was an advanced exoskeleton equipped with mechanical retractable wings, which were also larger in size. Like before, the exoskeleton sported the color of dark green.

"Here's your new suit. This new exoskeleton is three times more powerful than your original one. With the advanced technology and protocol, it should be effective enough to kill Spider-Man."

Adrian observed the exoskeleton thoroughly before smiling evilly. "It's perfect."

* * *

After fleeing, Scorpion was in hiding to avoid being found by Spider-Man or the police. He was currently walking through an alleyway when Adrian flew in wearing his new exoskeleton. Scorpion started to step back in shock.

"Surprised to see me, huh?" Vulture asked.

"Adrian...what are you doing here?"

"You killed my daughter. Why do you think I'm here?"

"No, I didn't. I didn't!"

Vulture flew over and grabbed him before starting to fly high up into the sky.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Scorpion pleaded.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm gonna put you down. But I want you to suffer like my daughter suffered. Once I'm done with you, I'm going after Spider-Man since you failed to do so," Vulture threatened.

"Adrian...Adrian, please rethink this!"

"Not a chance in hell. You killed my daughter, so now you're gonna pay with your life," Vulture declared before dropping him down to the ground.

Gargan died instantly, and his body lay there with his suit crushed by the impact of the fall.

Vulture flew back down and admired Gargan's corpse.

"You're next, Spider-Man."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed reading this difficult chapter. Very tough killing off 2 characters in 1 chapter, especially Valeria. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man and Vulture battle one last time.**

 **1 more chapter…**

 **We will announce the Vol. 2 main villain at the end of the next chapter.**


	13. Transcend

**Chapter 13: Transcend**

Winter break was over, and the students of Midtown High started the new year by mourning their friend Valeria. Everyone was shocked and couldn't believe what had happened to her and how it happened to her. The people closest to her were devastated, particularly Peter. He may not have known her as long as some of her other friends had, but they bonded quickly, and he still felt responsible for her death. She was supposed to graduate, and he ruined that chance for her, which broke his heart.

Peter was at Valeria's locker, which was decorated with pictures and cards. There were even candles lit. Peter took a picture of himself and Valeria out of his backpack. The picture had been taken during Christmas, and seeing it again only made Peter feel terrible. He placed the photo on the locker when Harry walked up to him.

"Hey, Pete. How you doin'?"

"Not good," Peter said sadly. "She didn't deserve this."

"How many people do?" Harry agreed.

"I should have listened to her. She didn't want me to find Spider-Man to save everyone, and I should've stayed."

"Pete, if you hadn't found Spider-Man, you all could have died anyway. You should be grateful that besides Valeria, no one else died. That's because of you. You're a hero just like Spider-Man," Harry told him before walking away.

Peter knew Harry was right about everything he said, but he had a hard time convincing himself of that. He couldn't help but feel that he was no longer a hero.

* * *

"Dr. Stromm, how's the progress coming along?" Norman asked.

"Dr. Osborn, I'm not too sure about this. The side effects are too dangerous. If someone were to use this serum, they could end up like that Scorpion guy. They would become extremely violent and aggressive."

Angry, Norman grabbed Dr. Stromm by his tie.

"Listen to me, Mendel. I didn't ask you to be my assistant on this project so you could ridicule it. If I don't come up with a new serum that can be better than the super-soldier serum from the '40s, then my life will be ruined, and Oscorp will be dead. Finished. I can't let that happen. I built this company from the ground up, and I won't let it crumble down."

"Dr. Osborn, I'm sorry, but-"

"No buts. I don't want to hear it from you. If you don't help me with this, you're out of here."

After several hours, Norman found a worthy replacement for the super-soldier serum and was ready for human trials. He couldn't wait to be the biggest success story in history.

* * *

In the hallways of Midtown High, Flash was scrolling through the news on his phone when he saw a headline from the _Daily Bugle_ , which was entitled, "SPIDER-MAN AND SCORPION CREATE DEADLY DESTRUCTION."

"B.S.," Flash scoffed.

Peter, who was walking by, heard what Flash said and casually walked towards him. He snuck a peek at his phone and saw what Flash was reading.

"Disagree with the _Bugle_ , huh?"

"Jameson doesn't know shit about what he's saying. I refuse to believe Spider-Man's a villain."

"Same here. I didn't know you liked Spider-Man," Peter agreed.

"Love the guy. He's a hero, even though he couldn't save Valeria."

Peter looked down. "You're right."

Flash sighed. "Look, Pete, I've been thinking, and I'm really sorry I've always been a dick to you. You're not the reason Liz and I broke up. I just have to learn to stop being such a jackass."

Peter chuckled. "It's all good, Flash. I think we'll be able to move on from all this just fine."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, unlike some people of this city, you actually seem to idolize Spider-Man. Maybe you're like him. Maybe you want to be a hero."

"That is true. I'd love to save lives. I'd do a pretty damn good job of it, too. But it just doesn't make sense why people would hate someone like Spider-Man. He's been doing good stuff for this city."

Peter was genuinely surprised by what Flash was saying. "I know, right?!"

"Guy deserves his own fan base. Hell, maybe I'll even start one!"

"You go and do that, Flash," Peter encouraged, walking away.

* * *

Peter returned home to find Aunt May making tea in the kitchen. They hadn't spoken a lot since Valeria had died. Peter kept to himself in his room to avoid conversation with anyone and really only left when he needed to go to school or for when the city needed him.

"Hey, Aunt May," Peter said as he walked in.

"Hi, Peter. How was your first day back at school?"

"Terrible," Peter responded as he sat down. "Valeria's locker was covered with pictures and notes. There was a shrine, too."

"Peter, people just want to pay their respects. It's tough when a student dies, especially when one of them is a close friend."

"I don't mean it like that, Aunt May. Everywhere I go, there's something that reminds me of her. It just makes me feel more guilty."

"Why, Peter? Valeria didn't die because of you. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Aunt May assured him.

"But I'm the one that found Spider-Man!" Peter shouted.

"Peter. You're not responsible in any way. You know that. You did the right thing. Spider-Man was just doing his job. He was protecting the city. Many more people would have died had he not shown up. He's a hero."

"Since when do you think he's a hero?" Peter asked.

"You know I've been warming up to him. I feel comfortable enough to say he's a hero. You could have died, too. I've already lost your uncle. I don't think I could handle losing you, too."

Peter stood up and walked closer to her. "You're not gonna lose me, May," he told her as he hugged her. "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Peter walked into the _Daily Bugle_ , knowing what he was gonna do. Although Jameson had gotten what was coming to him, Peter still felt obligated to apologize. Plus, he didn't want to continue getting on Jameson's bad side, especially since he was only freelance.

Once he got to the correct floor, Peter walked over to Jameson's office, only for Ned and Betty to get up and stop him.

"I wouldn't suggest you go in," Ned suggested. "Jameson might still be a little pissed that you yelled at him like that."

"Maybe give it a couple more days," Betty told Peter.

"Guys, as good as it felt doing it, I still need to apologize unless I don't want to continue working here. Plus, I have to admit that I overreacted a little bit about what he said. I just can't stand hearing him bash Spider-Man like that."

"We know, Pete," Ned assured him.

"I'm going in," Peter said.

Peter walked inside Jameson's office and braced himself for yelling.

"Look, Mr. Jameson. I just want to apologize, okay? I know I-"

"No, Parker. I'm the one who should be sorry," Jameson acknowledged.

Jameson's response startled Peter. "Hold on. What?"

"Look, Parker. I didn't know that you were good friends with that Valeria girl, and I was just being insensitive. It was wrong of me, especially since you look up to Spider-Man for whatever reason. Sure, we don't see eye-to-eye on him, but I still should've considered your feelings that day."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Jameson. Does this mean you'll go a little bit easier on Spider-Man from now on?" Peter asked.

"Doubtful," Jameson responded.

"Fair enough," Peter sighed before walking out.

Ned and Betty rushed over to him.

"No yelling? You're not fired?" Betty asked.

Peter shook his head. "Nope. We both apologized."

Ned was flabbergasted. "J. Jonah Jameson admitted he was wrong?"

"To a large extent, yeah," Peter confirmed.

* * *

At Oscorp Industries, Norman Osborn was preparing to finally make his dream a reality. Once completed, the world would have access to human performance enhancers, and he would be the greatest success story the world had ever seen. It would be a scientific breakthrough.

As Norman was getting the supplies ready, Harry stormed in.

"Harry. You have to leave. I don't have time for this right now."

"Dad, I get that you're always busy and all, but you seriously can't talk to me for at least five minutes?" Harry complained.

"No. Don't you get it? Harry, I'm about to make history. I'm going to make a huge breakthrough."

"Look, I get all this science stuff and Oscorp is important to you and all, and it's important to the world, but what about us? You barely even speak to me or Mom anymore."

"You guys aren't important right now! This is," Norman claimed.

Scoffing, Harry started walking out.

"Harry!" Norman called.

"What the hell do you want?"

"You're just not important right now. I'm not saying you're never important."

"Dad, you've never been there for me. I've never felt important to you because all you've ever cared about was Oscorp!"

"Harry, you know that's not true," Norman countered.

"Bullshit! Any time you are there for me, all you do is criticize me and compare me to Peter! If I get a 'B' on a test, you ask me why I couldn't have gotten an 'A'. How the hell do you think that's supposed to make me feel?!" Harry ranted before storming out.

"Harry!"

* * *

Still having a very difficult time dealing with his daughter's death, Adrian, wearing his new suit, pulled out a picture of the two of them as he sat in her room for the final time.

"I'm sorry for everything. For not spending enough time with you and for...becoming who I have to be now. It was only because I love you so much. I promise you, I'll kill Spider-Man for letting you die."

As he walked out, Adrian Toomes felt different. Good or bad, he didn't know. After killing Spider-Man, Adrian was prepared to turn his life around. To do that, he wanted to move past his old life. He no longer wanted to have any regrets.

So, he grabbed a gallon of gasoline from his garage and walked to the front of the house. Taking one last look, he poured the gasoline everywhere in the house and pulled out a lighter, setting fire to his home. He ran out and watched his house burn, ready to start a new life.

"Time to kill that bug," Adrian declared.

Adrian flew away, not looking back as his house exploded. The neighbors got out of their houses, panicking and calling 911. Adrian didn't even care at that point. The one thing on his mind at that point was ripping Spider-Man's heart out.

* * *

Peter was in the living room watching the news, and his eyes widened when he saw a certain report.

"It's recently been discovered that 3755 Hayfer Drive, the former home of Adrian and Valeria Toomes, has been blown up. The NYPD received several 911 phone calls related to the explosion, and firefighters are still doing their best to take out the fire. No injuries have been reported as of yet."

Peter felt his heart sink once he heard the witness statements.

"The Vulture did it! He blew up his own house!"

"A dude was there, and he flew away!"

"A flying man blew up the house. I saw it right outside my window!"

Peter had never been more worried in his entire life. The Vulture was out of prison, and Peter knew that the villain would stop at nothing to kill Spider-Man. He needed to be ready before anyone got hurt.

* * *

It was around 6 PM, and Peter, Harry, and Liz were in the school library after class had ended.

"So solids occupy a constant amount of space and have a definite volume and shape as a result," Peter explained.

"Yeah, and they don't readily deform when pressure is applied," Harry added.

"This chemistry stuff is always complicated," Liz sighed.

"I know," Peter started. "But it'll always-"

"What the hell?" Harry asked, pointing at one of the flat screen TVs on the wall.

The three looked at the TV to see a news report about the Queensboro Bridge, which was being attacked. Fire and debris were everywhere, and the cars were all in a mess.

"From what we're seeing, the Queensboro Bridge is being attacked," the news reporter, who was in a helicopter, reported. "We're currently sending rescue and trying to find the perpetrator, but-"

Vulture flew towards the camera and right through the helicopter, causing it to fall down. The screams of the reporters were gut-wrenching. Vulture grabbed the camera and faced it. He no longer had his goggles on, as he didn't need to hide his identity anymore.

"Citizens of New York. This is a message for all of you. Spider-Man better arrive in under an hour, or more blood will be shed."

Knowing what he had to do, Peter started to pack his stuff.

"Pete, where are you going?" Harry asked.

"Uh, I just forgot that I have to help Aunt May out with something. Later!" Peter said before running out.

"See ya, Pete," Liz called.

* * *

Vulture was flying around the Queensboro Bridge, waiting for Spider-Man. The amount of destruction that had been caused was catastrophic. Cars were flipped over while others had collided. The bridge was starting to crumble, and some people were trying to flee the scene.

Once Spider-Man arrived on the scene, he couldn't believe the sight. It looked unreal, like something only seen on screen.

"What have you done?!" Spider-Man shouted.

"You killed my daughter! You took everything from me!" Vulture cried as he flew towards Spider-Man.

"You're mistaken, buddy. Trust me," Spider-Man defended.

Vulture grabbed him and started punching him as they flew in the air.

"You ruined my life. Well, now I'm gonna take away yours," Vulture declared.

Spider-Man kicked Vulture in the stomach and escaped his grasp, landing on the bridge. Vulture flew down to Spider-Man, who jumped over him. Spider-Man shot a web at Vulture, trying to stop him. As Spider-Man held on to the web, his feet dug deeper into the ground, causing it to crack a little more.

"No!" Spider-Man exclaimed, letting go.

Vulture turned around and started flying back to him. Spider-Man shot some web pellets at Vulture, but he deflected them all with his wings.

"Got any more bright ideas?" Vulture taunted.

"I've got a few," Spider-Man responded before flipping and kicking him in the face, sending him tumbling backwards. He continued shooting web pellets, which sent Vulture tumbling back more.

Spider-Man swung towards him, but Vulture kicked him into an empty car. Spider-Man landed on the windshield and crushed it.

"Ugh," Spider-Man groaned. As he looked down, he noticed that his costume was starting to tear on his arms from hitting the glass.

His Spider-Sense warned him to jump, which he did. As he was in the air, a missile blew up the car. The small explosion caused more parts of the bridge to collapse, and it also caused other cars to catch fire.

"Holy shit!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he quickly swung up to one of the towers on the bridge.

As he got on, the other burning cars exploded, triggering a huge explosion on the bridge. Much to Spider-Man's dismay, three escaping civilians had been knocked off the bridge due to the impact of the explosion.

"No!"

Spider-Man quickly shot webbing toward the civilians. With all his power, he formed the web into a giant net that saved the civilians. As Spider-Man continued trying to pull them back up, the Vulture flew by and punched Spider-Man in the stomach, knocking him off the tower and losing his grip on the webbing.

Panicking, Spider-Man captured the falling net again with a web and allowed himself to fall until he reached an edge of the bridge, sticking to it. Spider-Man spotted a Coast Guard boat down in the water and slowly descended the net of people on it.

Spider-Man climbed back up to the bridge, exhausted, and Vulture flew down and pinned Spider-Man to the ground with his clawed foot. Vulture held up his left gauntlet, and claws extended from the fingers. He tried to stab Spider-Man, only for the hero to move his head aside, causing his gauntlet to get stuck in the pavement. Spider-Man punched Vulture in the face and put his legs around the villain's head, flipping him to the side. The attack forced the left gauntlet off of Vulture's hand, leaving the gauntlet still stuck in the ground. With his left hand now exposed, Vulture prepared his right gauntlet and lunged at Spider-Man.

Flying in the air, Vulture tackled Spider-Man to the ground and punched him repeatedly in the face with his right gauntlet. Struggling, Spider-Man shot a web at a car behind Vulture and swung it at his back, but the wings smashed it aside. Even more enraged, Vulture grabbed Spider-Man by the leg and flew away from the bridge.

"You think you save people?" Vulture chuckled. "No, you let them die. You only care about yourself."

"That's not true, Adrian. I tried to save your daughter."

Vulture flew Spider-Man back into land at full speed and threw him right into an abandoned park. Spider-Man shot a web at the last minute to lighten his fall, but he still crashed into a slide, knocking it down.

Groaning, Spider-Man struggled to get back up. He had never experienced this much pain in his life. He noticed his right eye lens had fallen off and was on the ground. At the same time, his Spider-Sense was telling him to move as quick as possible. A few missiles started flying towards the park, and Spider-Man swung out of the way. However, the explosions were too powerful, and Spider-Man was struck in the back by a light amount of the fire. Falling on the ground, Spider-Man yelled in pain as his back started to burn. It didn't hurt as much as it should've cause of his enhanced durability, but it still hurt pretty bad.

Before he could do anything else, Vulture flew right in, grabbed Spider-Man, and threw him right through a tree, knocking it down. Vulture flew back down, and his face was full of immense hatred.

"You tried to save my daughter, huh? This is the kind of pain I'm sure she suffered. You've got all this great power, and you should've been able to save her! You know why you didn't, kid? 'Cause deep down, you're weak, pathetic, and you don't truly know what you want to do."

Spider-Man slowly got back up. "I beg to differ."

"You're reckless and. arrogant. And you're irresponsible, kid. And that's why you're gonna get what's coming to you."

Vulture threw some feather blades at Spider-Man, but he dodged them and shot webs at two of the blades and swung them back at Vulture, jamming them into parts of his armor. Spider-Man jumped to Vulture and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him back.

"You're wrong about me. Yeah, I messed up, but I lost someone, too," Spider-Man growled, punching Vulture in the face. "He taught me that with great power comes great responsibility. You said so yourself that I have great power. Now, you get to see how responsible I am."

Spider-Man grabbed Vulture and threw him at the trees. Vulture was knocked through two of them, causing them to collapse. Managing to fly back, Vulture charged towards Spider-Man, who grabbed his fists.

"My daughter's death will be on you every day for the rest of your life. You're gonna imagine every day how differently things would've gone had you saved her, and it's gonna fucking kill you. It'll burn you."

Spider-Man punched Vulture and threw him on the ground. Before Vulture's wings could respond, Spider-Man webbed them down. Knowing it wouldn't take long for them to break free, Spider-Man jumped on top of Vulture and pummeled him in the face with his fists. Blood started coming out of Vulture's lip and nose, and Spider-Man struggled to restrain himself. Eventually, the wings did break free and smacked Spider-Man in the face, knocking him back. Vulture threw more feather blades at Spider-Man, who ducked and jumped over them. One blade did hit Spider-Man's shoulder, prompting him to scream in pain.

Ripping the bloody blade off, Spider-Man charged at Vulture like an animal. Vulture also flew at Spider-Man, and they charged past each other. Afterward, Spider-Man noticed that part of the costume on his torso was sliced, and Vulture discovered that the bloody blade was jammed into his arm.

"Kid, it's obvious you've been experiencing all kinds of pain now. You're not gonna beat me this time around. Give it up. There's no point in even trying anymore," Vulture taunted.

Spider-Man was badly injured at this point. His costume was torn, and he was bleeding in places he didn't want to. Despite that, the Vulture needed to be stopped. He couldn't give up. It was his responsibility.

"I won't back down to you," Spider-Man refused.

"After you're out of the way, anyone else who ever stood in my way is gonna die. Norman Osborn's gonna get what he deserves, but I'll go through his son first. I want Osborn to feel pain he's never experienced in his life," Vulture declared.

"Over my dead body!" Spider-Man roared.

Vulture pressed a button on his right gauntlet and aimed it for a more powerful and faster missile. Acting fast, Spider-Man shot a durable web at the small hole. As a result, the missile inside the right gauntlet blew up, sending Vulture a couple feet back. He yelled in pain as his right arm and parts of his armor started burning. Spider-Man ran and tried to plunge his hand through the harness of the wings, only for his attempt to fail.

"Ow!" Spider-Man yelled.

"Reinforced steel," Vulture growled.

Vulture punched Spider-Man in the face with his burning gauntlet, sending Spider-Man near the swing set. As Spider-Man looked at the villain, he was more frightened than before. No matter what Adrian had gone through and how much pain he was in, he wasn't gonna stop. Vulture ominously approached Spider-Man, but his wings were starting to catch fire.

"Your wings! They're on fire!" Spider-Man pointed out.

"Doesn't matter anymore. You're gonna die, even if it means I go out with you!"

Vulture charged at Spider-Man, who kicked him back. Vulture started to get up, but his armor and wings started sparking and malfunctioning. Spider-Man shot a web at Vulture's exposed left hand, trying to pull him out.

"How do you get these damn things off?!" Spider-Man asked in frustration.

Vulture's armor started getting worse, and Spider-Man shot more webs, still trying to pull it off.

"Come on, just-"

BOOOM!

It was undeniably the biggest and most earth-shattering explosion Spider-Man had ever witnessed, and he was sent flying back from the impact. The explosion was powerful enough to blow up the entire playground and area. As he lay on the ground struggling, Spider-Man spotted his line of web on the ground. He looked up and saw a barely alive Adrian in burned clothes. His skin was mostly filled with third degree burns, and he wasn't making any effort to move at all.

"No!" Spider-Man shouted.

It also didn't help when police cars, fire trucks, and an ambulance started to pull up. Spider-Man quickly ran out of view. The cops ran out of their cars and aimed their guns at Adrian, all while firefighters started taking out the fire.

Spider-Man was nowhere to be seen at that moment in time.

* * *

A day after the final battle between Spider-Man and Vulture, Adrian Toomes found himself being escorted by guards through the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane. A majority of his body was covered in bandages.

"You're gonna be here for a very long time, Toomes," a guard promised.

Adrian looked around to see the craziest people he had ever witnessed before. Yelling, crying, fighting. The people belonged in a goddamn zoo. Adrian knew he wasn't insane. He considered himself to simply be a man who cared for his family.

"Guards, I don't belong here!" Adrian yelled. "I'm not insane."

"It's what you deserve for all the death and destruction you've caused," a guard scolded, opening the door to Adrian's cell.

Adrian was pushed into his cell, and the door was locked.

"You're gonna pay. YOU'RE ALL GONNA PAY!" Adrian furiously screamed as he grabbed the bars on his door.

* * *

Back at school after his fight with Vulture, Peter was slowly trying to move on from what happened. Part of his face was bandaged, and he told his peers that he was a witness of the huge fight, which actually scored him some popularity.

One day, he opened his locker and grabbed his books as he saw Liz walk up to him.

"Hi, Pete," Liz greeted.

"Hey, Liz."

"What happened to your face?"

"The best way to explain it is that I shouldn't have been near Spider-Man and Vulture while they were fighting," Peter told her.

Liz's mouth dropped. "You're kidding."

"I'm dead serious."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Well, listen, if you're not doing anything later tonight, I was wondering if you'd like to grab dinner?"

Peter wasn't expecting that. He kind of figured that any attraction between the two of them had died after he showed up late to their first date.

"Look, Liz, that's nice of you to ask, but I'm really not interested in a relationship right now," Peter rejected.

"What?" Liz asked, hurt.

"I didn't intend on showing up late for our first date, but you couldn't let it go. You ignored me, you didn't show up to Christmas dinner. I'm sorry, but I'm not going out with you," Peter said before walking away.

A look of sadness spread across Liz's face. She wasn't sure if she would remain friends with Peter or if she would stop talking to him altogether, but one thing was for sure. Right now, she was going to be alone.

* * *

After a couple days of preparation, everything was ready. At Oscorp, Norman was ready for recruits to show up so they could test the serum. He had been waiting for Dr. Stromm to show up, but he was late.

"Dr. Osborn, I'm sorry I'm late," Dr. Stromm apologized as he walked in.

"Never mind that, Dr. Stromm. Were you able to find any recruits?" Norman asked.

"I'm sorry, sir. Everyone I tried to recruit thought it was crazy."

Norman became furious. His plan was failing, and he couldn't let that happen. He needed to be a success. There was only one option now.

"Fine. Then I'm gonna do it," Norman declared.

"Dr. Osborn, you can't. The results could be catastrophic. You could die!" Dr. Stromm pleaded.

"I have no concern about that. Now, is everything ready?"

"Yes, sir."

Dr. Stromm went on his computer and started preparing the machine and serum. Norman took off his lab coat and shirt.

"Sir, it's ready. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I've been working for a very long time now, Dr. Stromm. I've waited a long time for this. Nothing will stop me." Norman confirmed.

Without any second thoughts, Norman walked inside a glass tank, where Stromm strapped him to a standing table. Vials full of the serum were connected to Norman through wires.

"Okay. Everything's ready, Dr. Osborn."

"Good."

The computer was activated, and the serum was injected into Norman. The effects quickly started taking effect, and Norman started shaking, with foam coming out of his mouth.

"Norman!" Dr. Stromm shouted.

Before any of them knew it, Norman had lost consciousness.

* * *

 **To be continued in Along Came a Spider-Man - Vol 2: Enter the Goblin.**

 **There will not be an epilogue.**

 **Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and Vol. 1. More characters will be introduced in Vol. 2 along with more villains.**


End file.
